To Follow her Fate
by Kuchiki Michiko
Summary: “Michiko-sama, may I introduce Kuchiki Byakuya-sama..."Michiko looked up to see the stoic cold face of the man and her eyes immediately lowered.“Kuchiki-sama…” she swept a curtsy... she never knew that she would fall for him one day. Bya/OC... pls review
1. On The way back Home

Author's note: Well, this is my first fanfiction, so pls be nice and tell me what needs improvment or whatever. This idea's been naggin' me for like the past few months but I felt that it wasn't exactly a complete story so I put it off. Basically I'm re-telling the story from the begining of Bleach, following Ichigo until Soul Society where my OC meet's Kuchiki Byakuya and thats where she splits off from Ichigo... I'm rambling aren't I... well... uh... enjoy :)

ps. I can't believe I got the format right. I've always had problems with format... xd enjoy!

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The Way Back Home

-

_We fear that which we cannot see._

_We respect that which we cannot see._

The small figure of a young girl dressed in black robes with a white sash tied around her petite waist stood on a pole high above the sleeping town of Karakura. Raven–colored hair flows slightly past her shoulder. She stares stoically into the black sky.

"I see… I feel a strong pulse." She then leaps away, from pole to pole, disappearing into the night.

_Thus, the blade will be wielded_

"'The hell's wrong wit' you! You suddenly kick Yama-chan down then you tell US 'outta the way'?!" Four gangsters stood around the body of their unconscious friend and glared at a boy with bright orange hair. A young girl with flowing straight black hair stood by with a cool expression on her face, not knowing whether to laugh or be pissed at Ichigo for suddenly stopping to deal with 5 nobodies who 'didn't show enough respect for the dead'

"Say sumthin', you little--" one of the gangsters raised a fist, preparing to hit Ichigo, but before he could move, Ichigo had already kicked him down to the floor and was slamming his foot onto his back, bashing him into the sidewalk. Michiko didn't even flinch and wondered if she should yawn to show her boredom… _No, Okaa-san would never approve of such bad manners. _She stood in silence, watching Ichigo fight.

"Whoa! Toshi-rin's getting'…" one of the three gangsters started.

"This is bad!" The second said.

"This is so messed up…" the third one muttered.

All three were starting to shake. Michiko very nearly let her calm façade slip into an expression of scorn and disgust. _Just because you don't know how to REALLY fight doesn't mean you should act all shocked at watching someone else do some real fighting… _

Ichigo continued to bash the guy's face into the sidewalk and the floor started to crack. Michiko briefly wondered if an imprint of the guy's face would be left there.

"Quit yakkin'!!" Ichigo roared, getting himself more and more worked up.

"All of you bastards! LOOK AT THAT!!" Ichigo pointed to a fallen vase of flowers by a lamp post. Michiko's eyes followed his finger to look at the vase and then looked back to the fearful expressions of the guys who remained standing.

"Question 1: What is THAT?!" Ichigo's voice continued to raise.

"Yes! You, in the middle!!" Michiko nearly winced as Ichigo's voice rose to a nearly ear shattering degree. She briefly wondered if she should break in and ask him to lower his voice a bit but decided against that.

The three gangsters looked at each other before the one in the middle started to speak in a stuttering voice. Michiko noticed that he had two rings in his brow. She frowned. _What a bad sense of fashion…__those rings are simply hideous._

"Um, uh, it was a tribute for a kid who died here recently…" the gangster's un-pierced eyebrow was twitching as if he were about to laugh at such a stupid question. Suddenly, he went flying from Ichigo's next attack.

"100% CORRECT!!" Ichigo yelled out.

"Mit-chan" one of the two gangsters remaining whimpered out. Michiko had the urge to step a bit closer and tell him the whimpering was for girls and babies and that he was a shame to his gender, but she knew that someone with her learning and name shouldn't involve herself in such trivial matters. That was the pride of her family, the pride of the noble family Shirakawa, the White River Family. _Otou-san probably wouldn't approve too._

"Okay then, why would it have fallen over?" Ichigo ground out in a dangerous voice. The two gangsters gulped.

"Well, we were skateboarding and knocked it over…" Ichigo didn't even give him a chance to finish the sentence and he threw them off their feet with a well-placed punch.

"You bastards!" Michiko could practically see flames erupting around Ichigo's body, clashing with his vividly orange hair.

"I dare you to do that again!!" he continued.

"I'LL MAKE IT SO THAT PEOPLE WILL HAVE TO LAY FLOWERS FOR YOU TOO!" He roared this final sentence before crossing his arms and watching as those who could still stand gasped out a quick apology and ran away with their friends' unconscious bodies.

The fire around Ichigo immediately disappeared and he turned to the ghost of the little girl who clasped her hands with a smile on her face.

"Thankyou O-nii-chan, thankyou O-nee- san."

"Huh? O-nee…" Ichigo turned to face Michiko who still bore an expressionless face._ He actually forgot that he was walking home with me…the nerve…_ Michiko groaned in her brain. She ignored him and turned to the ghost.

"You're welcome, just go on to heaven. Come on Ichigo… let's go home." The two turned and started towards the clinic where the Kurosakis lived while Ichigo promised the girl that he would bring flowers the next day.

Shrakawa Michiko had been living with the Kurosaki family since… her parents died and her sister… disappeared. _No… since Otou-san and Okaa-san had been murdered._ The girl reminded herself. _Since they had been murdered… in their own house…_ Michiko had been a 4 year-old little girl… with a ½ year- old baby sister.

The Shirakawa family was a noble family, although Otou-san had ordered her not to run around telling everyone. To everyone in this world, they were just a rich family… very well-known… but within their family and all in the house-hold, they were the noble family of the White River, noble blood through and through who were … in hiding from certain others.

As such, Michiko had been taught proper etiquette as soon as she could sit on her own. However, she was also taught many kinds of martial arts… for reasons unknown… _A young girl must know to defend herself from those who wish to harm them…_ she remembered her Okaa-san telling her although she knew that it wasn't the entire truth. She understood that they were different from everyone. They were from … elsewhere. Michiko had never felt different from others though, until her family was murdered and her sister was stolen away.

After that horrible night, she had never seen her younger sister again. Hanging in between belief that her sister would be alive somewhere out there and her common sense telling her that she could never have survived… it was painful to know that she had failed her parents…

-

*flashback*

"Michiko, this is your younger sister, Shirakawa Minaichi. Treat her well." Shirakawa Risami lay on a large bed in a luxurious bedroom. She held a newborn child in her arms and spoke softly, in a tired voice. Servants stood a bit away from the bed in their uniform. Next to the large bed, a 4- year- old toddler stood on her tip-toes, peeking at the bundle in her mother's arms. The midwife was standing nervously nearby.

"Michiko … if … one day, I am no longer here … you must promise me… to take care of your sister." Risami's face was serious.

"Okaa – san?" Michiko didn't understand.

"Promise us, Michiko." Her father, Shirakawa Ryuunosuke had entered the large room. The servants bowed low and Michiko turned to gaze at her father with wide eves. She lowered her gaze.

"Otou-san … I promise." Michiko said… and she meant it. Her father gave her a rare smile, the one that he reserved for her and her mother. He knelt down to her and held out a golden box with red velvet lining holding a Japanese fold fan inside.

"This fan … it is a tradition in our family that all children born to us will receive one, it is up to them to … awaken its powers. However, the firstborn _son_ is the one to inherit this particular fan. It is a family heirloom. I believe, Michiko that you are just as good as any other child that will be born into this family. I believe in you Michiko. This family heirloom is yours to hold."

He held out the box and Michiko slowly accepted it with both hands. As usual, she didn't understand what her father meant, but she treasured his every word.

"Now, run along and get to your classes." He hesitated for one moment and reached forward, giving Michiko a hug.

"Aishiteru, my daughter. Aishiteru." He kissed her cheek and straightened. The gaping servants quickly lowered their eyes. Shirakawa Ryuunosuke was a cold man on appearance, but he cared deeply for his family.

Michiko stared at her father for a moment. Then, her face split out in a big, childish smile. She gave a small bow, turned and walked out of the room, curiously examining the box containing the priceless heirloom. Her nurse followed her, after deeply bowing towards Michiko's parents.

Instead of going to her classes as Otou-san had requested, Michiko headed back to her wing in the manor. She sat on her large sofa, placed the golden box next to her and stared at it, not knowing whether she should open it, or lock it away for when she grew up.

After a long while of contemplation, she reached out with a shaking hand and touched the cover, hesitating one more second before opening it. She slowly reached out to touch the ancient family heirloom and then gently lifted it out and snapped it open. It was made of silk and had a royal, deep blue hue.

On the silk, cherry blossom petals were embroidered all over. If she closed her eyes and let her imagination wonder, she could see those blossoms, floating off into the wind freely. Flipping the fan over, she saw that the back side of the fan bore many mysterious symbols, embroidered in silver threads. She inspected them carefully turning the fan around in her hands, trying to get used to the feeling that the fan gave her. It had a strange texture. She opened her eyes to inspect.

Michiko raised her eyebrows. Usually, most fans were made of wood and paper. _This fan isn't wooden… its golden, but it feels like metal…no, this texture is definitely gold. If it were metal inside… the outside wouldn't be so soft… what is with those weird markings?_

Michiko reached out to trace the symbols and quickly jerked backwards in shock. _Did the fan just… glow? No! I must be imagining thi-_

"Michi-chan! What have you got there? Wow, that's rare, it's made of pure fire diamonds." A woman's voice interrupted her thoughts. Michiko jumped.

"Yoruichi-sensei! What are you doing here? What are fire diamonds?"

"When you didn't come to your karate lessons I asked a servant to bring me up here. You should take care of that family heirloom, it's priceless. Fire diamonds are a kind of jewels. They … do not exist here. They're the most sturdy kind of material ever. No matter how you hit it anywhere, it will never break. Even if it does break, you can return it to its original shape upon your will.

The Shirakawa family heirloom is priceless. Keep it someplace safe until you can really use it." Shihouin Yoruichi spoke in a serious voice, hesitating a bit when explaining the fire diamonds' home.

"Come to the training grounds within ten minutes Michi-chan. I'll be waiting." Yoruichi turned and left the room, closing the door behind her, leaving Michiko alone in her chambers.

Michiko's eyes had slowly widened at Yoruichi's explanation. She turned to look at the fan in awe, and then jumped up to put the fan back into the golden treasure chest. She locked it shut and then ran to the wall. Looking once more around her room to check that no one was watching, she then started to feel around her wall until she found the hidden place number 23 in her room.

She pulled out a large piece of her wall to reveal a hidden room. She crawled in and set the box in the center of the room after checking that it was securely locked. Then, she leapt out of the hidden room and placed the square shaped door to the hidden room back into the wall.

Then, she ran to her shelf, grabbed a large black leather book and opened it to reveal many different keys. She slipped the key to the treasure chest into the next available slot and wrote down _key for item in hidden place no. 23_ in the contents page. After replacing the key book in her bookshelf, she stepped back to face the wall where her hidden place no. 23 was.

After giving it a careful inspection to see that it looked like a normal wall without any clues to the treasure that lay inside, she called a servant to assist her in changing into a standard martial arts uniform and walked down to the training grounds in her most dignified manner, acknowledging all the clan elders that she passed. After all, she did have 5 minutes left.

*end flashback*

-

Michiko stopped in her tracks to look up at the sky which was slowly turning dark. Okaa-san's mysterious words still imprinted in her mind after 10 years. _Michiko … if … one day, I am no longer here … you must promise me… to take care of your sister. _Half a year later, on a cold winter night a week before Christmas, her parents were murdered.

-

*flashback*

The air was thick with a mysterious power. It made her skin crawl and was crushing her. It hurt and she could barely breathe. Even in the large garden behind the manor, she could still feel it from the house. Then, just as she was about to lose consciousness, everything was still. The power disappeared. Her instincts told her that something was dreadfully wrong. It was too silent, too still all of a sudden.

She ran back into the house only to see the servants and guards all over the floor. She gasped and went further into the house, only to see a frightening sight. Her parents lay on the floor in their own blood. Their bodies lay in twisted positions, their blood dotting the walls, smearing over the expensive furniture. Then, everything was a nightmarish haze. She remembered the police… the sirens… her own screams… unable to bear it all, she ran away that night. Her sister had already disappeared…

*end flashback*

-

Almost forgetting that she was in public, she nearly let out a sob, her cold expression, her calm façade slipping only a bit before she caught herself and shut her emotions in. Ichigo finally noticed that she wasn't following him and turned back slightly to see her staring into the orange-purple sky with a slightly unnatural look on her face, as if struggling with herself.

"You're thinking about them again." It wasn't a question. It was a statement. He knew her the best. He knew that she blamed herself for her parents' deaths, for her sister's disappearance. Although there was nothing she could have done, she would have gladly suffered for them… died with them… disappeared with them.

"You're still blaming yourself. You shouldn't blame yourself. It's been 10 years, Michiko. You were just 4 years old back then, what could you have done?" They stood on the sidewalk, Michiko looking at the sky, and Ichigo standing a few meters away from her, looking back at her.

"I was there. Yet I survived while they died. I could have died along with them. I would have gladly followed them. Then, I wouldn't have this feeling of guilt with me that I am the sole survivor of the Shirakawa clan. Don't you understand Ichigo? They had a feeling that this would happen. They even let it slip sometimes… but in the end, I was too naïve… too foolish… to catch those small hints and worried instead about other useless childish things… it IS my fault."

"You think too much. It doesn't matter if it's your fault or not. The past is the past. Just forget it all." Ichigo put a comforting hand on her shoulder in a comforting gesture and they started to walk towards the clinic again.

"Can you forget your mother's death just like that?" Michiko asked him. He was silent for a moment.

"That's different. It was really my fault. She tried to save me and gave her life in return."

"I see no difference… they died to protect me… they died to protect me… they told me not to come back until the guest left… they knew… You blame yourself still."

"We both need to stop thinking about things like this."

"As reluctant as I am to admit this, I think you may be right."

The two continued walking in silence. Michiko once again continued to think._ It was strange._ She frowned._ It was as if… It was as if they knew… they knew that it would happen… they knew that they would die._ What happened after that fateful night was even stranger. Her parents had been buried in the garden on Christmas Eve. The police had escorted her back to the manor. They had found no clues and Michiko told them to give up.

The police were going to look for papers in her father's office to see where she would live and who she would live with. However, the next day after the burial and after the house had been cleaned by the servants who decided to stay, everyone mysteriously forgot. It was as if nothing had happened. Everyone aside from the servants forgot that her parents had been killed.

Michiko had found a letter telling her to give up, saying: Their memories are modified… it will do no good to find me… giving up would be the best idea…

No doubt, it had been from the murderer. She vowed that she would find him… avenge her parents… find her sister. It was nothing other than an empty promise. A vow made out of desperation.

It seemed as if strange things happened from that day on. When she saw the mangled bodies of her beloved family members, it was like something had snapped within her. She had suddenly been able to see many huge monsters with masks and holes in their chests.

Like a coward, she ran away after receiving the note, not exactly knowing what to do. She lived on the streets chased by those monsters. She ran, or fought them, but what chance did she stand? A four year old little girl against a giant monster… even with all of the skills that she had learned in her two years of training with Yoruichi-sensei, it was impossible for her to beat the monster.

_I'm such a pathetic little weakling._ Michiko thought as she slowly walked down the neighborhood. She looked up to see the Kurosaki clinic a few more blocks away.

_I am such a weakling. _

_Where is my pride? _

_Why do I seek shelter with these people? _

_Why am I burdening them?_

_I'm weak. Brought down by one of the small tragedies in life, __I am __a disgrace._

She continued to think as she walked along the sidewalk.

_So many things happened. Nothing made sense. It scared her and she just wanted to curl up next to __her __Okaa-san and cry__ like a little girl__ again._

The second week of her living in the streets had brought another strange thing. Michiko had the fleeting suspicion that she had… died.

-

*flashback*

Gasping in fear, Michiko ran faster, trying to lose the monster who was laughing maniacally behind her. She turned at a corner and continued to run, but was faced with a dead end.

She turned to run back out, but was blocked by the monster that had already caught up with its large steps and was blocking her only way to freedom. The monster moved towards her and she instinctively took a few steps back only to bump into the stone wall. Her eyes darted around wildly, searching for a way to escape. Taking advantage of her large opening, the monster lifted a huge arm and swiped her towards the wall.

She squeezed her eyes shut, bracing herself for the pain of the impact, but it never came. Opening her eyes, she saw that she was still standing on her feet and there was a … chain protruding from her chest. Her eyes followed the chain to … what seemed to be her body which was lying on the ground, blood pooling around the head. Her eyes widened in fear and she began to shake as her 4-year-old brain processed a new piece of information.

_My body… I'm there by the wall… but I'm here… it separated me from me… but I'm still connected by the chain… I may be able to go back in…_ she deduced this theory with speed that impressed even herself. But even as she was reassuring herself, the monster reared up again and ripped the chain into two. She dropped to the ground convulsing in pain, until finally, unable to bear it anymore, let out a tortured shriek of pain. The monster loomed over her… and the world became hazy.

_I'm dying…_ _No! I cannot die! I have a mission! I must live!__ I must find Minaichi-chan. _She forced her eyes open to face the monster. As if guided by a teacher's hand, she saw herself as if in a dream, a bow appearing in her hand as she reached out, grasping an arrow of light, aiming and releasing. The monster was split into two and the bow disappeared. She was left, standing in the dark alley staring at her hands, wondering what had just happened.

However, she didn't have the time to think as pain tore through her body, and she once again began to writhe on the ground, refusing to scream out loud, just as she had been taught not to. It was over in a matter of minutes, and she sat up, gasping as there was still a dull throb in her chest. Looking down, she realized with horror that the broken chain in her chest was gnawing itself away.

"W-wh-what!?" she cried out, but once again, before she could even think, pain tore through her small frame, wracking her body.

She didn't know how long she lay there in the alley, screaming and writhing in pain as the chain continued to eat itself. She had lost count of the hours. The ground was dirty and muddy, but she was beyond caring anymore, torn between keeping her promise to her parents to care for her sister and wanting death to claim her quickly. Finally it came.

The last piece of chain ate itself away more painfully than the others had._ In the end, I must leave like otou-san and okaa-san. Life is so short and passes so quickly. _She vaguely remembered a proverb from somewhere in a book in the Shirakawa Manor's library._ In the end, I am not able to keep my promises. In the end, I'm a disgrace, a disgrace to the Shirakawa family. I am so weak to die like this. _These thoughts ran through her mind as her eyes slipped shut.

It was night. There were no stars. The only source of light was the full moon that hung in the sky. She was standing in a small cove. Stepping out of the cove, she could see that there was a lake surrounding her. Its waters were still. Not a ripple. It was silent. Beyond the lake, she could see the shore.

Fine white sands covered the shore, forming a beach, and beyond that, there was a forest of sakura trees. In the light of the moon, she could see that the floor of the forest was completely covered in pink sakura petals. A small breeze carried a few pink petals across the lake. That is when Michiko noticed another presence.

She was walking, almost gliding, silently across the beach. White silk mixed with other pieces of light pink silk wrapped loosely around her, forming a garment for her. With each step, the garment floated around her. Long silver hair reached down to her waist, a few curls framing her face, shining bangs nearly covering her eyes. In her hands she carried a silver scepter.

"Who are you?" The words were out of her mouth before she could stop herself.

"Where am I?" She was mystified.

"My name is Tsukihana. We are in your inner world." The lady's lips did not move, but her soft musical voice filled the air around her. The lady gracefully stepped onto the water, gliding gently across the lake towards her.

"Your life is in danger, your very existence in jeopardy. Do you wish to die here? Do you wish that the Shirakawa family line end because of your weakness?" The lady spoke softly, now standing tall and still, looking down at her four-year-old self.

Michiko gazed up at her, beginning to regain her resolution, her confidence.

"No." A single word slipped from her lips. The lady smiled gently and lifted a graceful arm towards her, holding out a hand.

"Come." She spoke softly.

Michiko slowly reached out and grasped the lady's outstretched hand. As their hands joined a bright flash of white erupted and power surged through her body. She instinctively closed her eyes to shield them from the light.

When she opened them once more, she was in the dark alley again, dressed in black robes, holding a sword in her hand. A man with a striped had and messy blond hair, wearing sandals and holding a cane and a fan was standing at the entrance of the alley.

The man lifted his fan and snapped it open, fanning himself while speaking.

"Hey there, Shirakawa-san. I am Urahara Kisuke. You look like you're kinda lost. Need a bit of help?"

*end flashback*

-

Urahara Kisuke had helped her to find a family in the Kurosakis. He would have gladly explained her situation to her, but she had adamantly refused any explanation of sorts, preferring to live in ignorance of her family's real history.

_After all, it is said that ignorance is bliss._

In truth, Michiko was simply afraid of the truth and was running away from it desperately, like a coward.

_Strange things happen to me._

It was true. Ever since that day in the alley, Tsukihana spoke to her on a daily basis, their relationship slowly becoming more intimate as they bonded through the many happenings in life.

A few more years after that, she was introduced to a new creature in her mind. _She_ looked like herself, except for the skin color. _She _was completely white all over, but her eyes were black and yellow._ She _had an evil smirk and always called her 'Mistress' in a low, slightly mocking, raspy voice, which never failed to bring shivers down her spine.

Tsukihana called _her_ an 'inner hollow' and told her not to worry about her 'inner hollow', and after spending a few more months with the 'inner hollow', Michiko learned that 'inner hollow' was just there to help her in a different way than Tsukihana, or so it was, according to that 'inner hollow'.

Ichigo opened the door to the Kurosaki house hold and let Michiko enter first. Out of the corner of her eye, Michiko saw Isshin diving towards her and Ichigo. She sighed, closed her eyes and side-stepped him, letting his leg crash into Ichigo's torso.

"Yuzu-chan, Karin-chan." She greeted the twins, before heading towards the kitchen, ignoring the commotion made by Ichigo and his father.

"Ichi-nii the food is getting cold… nee-san, aren't you eating with us?" Caring little Yuzu was always thinking about others. Michiko turned slightly.

"Not today, I'm tired. I will have dinner in my room and then rest after a bath." She turned to the kitchen and grabbed an onigri from the fridge and headed into her room.

Ichigo and his father were still exchanging punches and retorts in the living room. Michiko let herself roll her eyes at their immaturity in the privacy of her room.

Life in the Kurosaki family was as lively as ever.

-

Author's note: how was that? This is my first try at writing a story actually. Please review to tell me what to think!

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	2. Thoughts and flashbacks

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Author's note: ok sorry sorry sorry. Long time not write … er … update. There is a huge lack of response so I'm feelin kinda dejected here…. I feel like my writing is rilly boring so no one bothers to read it… and there aren't any reviews. Please, please, please, I beg you to read and review. Just one review and I'll be happy!

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Of Thoughts and Flashbacks

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"Ichi-nii, I'm staying at Inoue-san's home for tonight. Please tell your father for me. Ichi-nii? Hey Ichi-nii, answer me. Ichigo!" Michiko bent down, waving her hand in front of his face and peering up at him.

Another day at Karakura high had passed and Michiko stood at her brother's desk, looking at his bowed head.

"Hey! Is something wrong? You're zoning out for no reason today." Her forehead creased slightly in a frown. Ichigo gave a start.

"Huh? No its nothing. I'll tell pops for you." He said slowly before turning and walking away with his schoolbag on his back.

_Weird. What's with him? He's been acting really weird since this morning. Did something happen?_

"Shirakawa-san! Are you coming? Tatsuki-chan says that she will come after karate practice!" Inoue Orihime's bright cheery voice rang in her ears. Michiko sighed slightly before turning her back to her brother and walking towards the girl.

'Tsukihana, you there?' she called out in her mind

'_I am always here, what matters is your will to find me.'_ Her voice, as melodious as ever, echoed in her ears.

'Cut it out, Tsukihana, you sound cheesier than anyone else I know' She muttered.

_'By 'anyone you know', do you include yourself?'_ Tinkling laughter rang through her head. Silence met this statement and after a while, Tsukihana spoke again.

_'Was there something you needed, Michiko-sama?' _A few moments of silence between the two passed and Michiko was suddenly aware of Orihime's voice, chirply describing the many dishes she had prepared for that night's dinner.

'It was nothing, Tsukihana, you've been very quiet today too.'

_'I merely thought that instead of conversing with me, you should actually pay attention to your lessons.' _Obvious mirth was hidden in her voice, and Michiko allowed a small smirk to appear on her face.

'Touché.'

Michiko sat with her feet tucked neatly underneath her at the small table in Inoue Orihime's house, Arisawa Tatsuki sitting to her left and Inoue Orihime to her right. They were eating one of Orihime's well known recipes, 'red bean ice-cream with cheese and nuts sprinkled on the top.

Tatsuki was still trying to finish the whole bowl without being violently ill all over the creator of this dish and Orihime was still holding a spoon and smiling widely, ice-cream staining the corner of her mouth, apparently still enjoying her meal.

Michiko herself had long finished her food. As polite as she was, she merely ate quickly, spooning the sweet and salty concoction into her mouth without the barest hint of emotion except for biting the inside of her cheek to avoid blanching at the strange taste. She had, afterwards, complimented on Orihime's cooking, but declined the offer to eat a second bowl.

"After this, I still have my special drinks! Onion with red beans mixed in sprite! We should eat drink some!" Orihime's cheerful voice rang out. Michiko raised an eyebrow and Tatsuki immediately interrupted.

"Oh! I almost forgot! My mom told me to bring to beef and corn soup!"

"Yay! Tatsuki-chan's mom's corn and beef soup is always the best!"

"I'm glad you like it. Without us, you always eat weird stuff."

"You say that every time you come here Tatsuki-chan! And it isn't weird! It's good!"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say." Tatsuki patted Orihime's head.

Watching the two friends going at it, Michiko nearly, NEARLY, let out a sigh. As with all others, she was as quiet and withdrawn with these two. Even when she had met these two, she was already numb to emotion and because of her attitude, she had never made any real friends.

Arisawa Tatsuki was different. They were first introduced to each other through Ichigo who hoped that she would find a friend in the tomboy. Despite her cold responses, Tatsuki continued to attempt playing with her and slowly her barrier lowered around this girl.

Inoue Orihime's innocent and ditsy character was just the same as Arisawa's, just as friendly and definitely just as stubborn when she had to be.

One could not say that Michiko was close friends with these two, but their relationship had progressed to something that Michiko might call 'friendship' and to her, it was a good way to avoid getting too attached to the Kurosakis, although in Tsukihana's opinion, no matter how much Michiko wanted to deny the fact, Shirakawa Michiko considered the Kurosakis as her second family and as life in the Kurosaki household was sometimes rather… 'lively', thanks to Kurosaki Isshin's childish antics, Michiko preferred to spend a few days a week at Inoue Orihime's home.

"Hey, Michiko, something wrong? You're kind of quiet today." Tatsuki's voice interrupted her thoughts.

"Ano, Shirakawa-san is always quiet." Orihime chirpily mused thoughtfully.

"No, it's not that. Normally it's more like a cold and uncaring type of quiet, right now she's being the shy, girlish type of quiet." Tatsuki bent forward slightly, peering at her face.

_She did not just say that I was a shy and quiet girl…She most definitely did NOT!_

Michiko had to tighten her fists in her lap under the table to avoid having a vein pop in her forehead. She wanted to sigh, but she held it back also.

"I am going to take a bath. There is no need to wait for me to begin studying." She spoke distinctively, her voice slightly colder than before, rolling the words around in her mouth before slowly pushing them out.

Inoue looked startled and kind of nervous and Tatsuki rolled her eyes.

"Ano, Shirakawa-san seems angry today." Orihime spoke sheepishly as Michiko left the dining room.

"Michiko's like that every single day." Tatsuki replied, lying down on the floor, arms supporting her head.

"She's like Kurosaki-kun in some ways."

"Oh? How so?" Tatsuki answered, not really caring.

"She just seems sad sometimes, but in a different way that Kurosaki-kun." Orihime said, looking out of the window in her apartment. To this, Tatsuki bit her lip. She had no reply.

"Tatsuki-chan, do you feel like although we've known Shirakawa-san for such a long time, it's as if we barely know her at all? We don't even know anything about her." Orihime turned to her friend.

"Tatsuki-chan, you know something do you? About Shirakawa-san… I can tell you know, but Shirakawa-san doesn't seem to like people talking about her…" Tatsuki sighed, straightening her legs.

"I don't really know a lot either. Ichigo told me a little bit about her when I first met her, so I could understand her attitude a little bit more, but even after she accepted me as a friend, she always ended the conversation when it moved towards her family and history." Orihime, turned back to face Tatsuki, interested in what her friend had to say.

"It was when she was five years old. Ichigo said that a man wearing sandals with a cane, fan and a striped hat had shown up with her at the Kurosaki clinic. She lived with them since then. Apparently her whole family was murdered and her half-year-old sister had disappeared without a trace."

Tatsuki paused, as if in deep thought, unsure of what to say next.

"Everyone knows about the Shirakawa Corps. The Shirakawa family was famous. They were rumored to have been descendants from an ancient noble line, so Michiko has always been cold and withdrawn, but Ichigo says that before her parents died, his father knew her parents distantly. He said that she was a child of smiles, although with the same grace in speech as today, was more than willing to make friends."

The two were silent. Water was heard running in the bathroom.

"They way of her parents' death was horrifying. They and the rest of the household were murdered. They were killed with knives, every single one of them, even a few servants. It must have been horrible for her to see. Even stranger was the way the murder case was treated. A few days later, it was as if, the whole murder case was already solved and closed, the police just forgot about it, and it seems that she knows why, that is why she won't talk about it."

"Even stranger is that no one questioned about the case, everyone just… ignored it…"

Orihime nearly dared not to breathe. She was staring, wide-eyed at her friend who was now also in a sitting position, head in her hands a sad expression on her face.

"When I first saw her, even with her cold, distant and aloof expression, there was something sad about her. I pitied her. That is why, that is why I tried so hard to be her friend, so as to make her life even a small bit happier, with a little bit more color. She sees things in black and white, has done so ever since her family's death, perhaps even before. The Shirakawa family really must be ancient nobles…To push her so, to make it so that she is so withdrawn, so cold. How cruel..."

The two friends sat in silence for the rest of the night, each having their own thoughts about their classmate.

Michiko finally allowed herself to let a sigh of slight irritation as she stepped into the bathroom, hung up her clothes and started to fill the bath. Turning away from the rapidly filling bath, she began to strip herself, only to freeze as she saw her reflection in the mirror.

_So this is what I look like, when I let myself relax, let myself take of the mask, the façade of coldness. I look so… sad …so pathetic…_

Knee length long black and thick hair, slim face, a high set nose and a pair of round… eyes. She couldn't tell what color they were. She hadn't been able to for years. She could only remember a time long ago when her eyes for large, round, blue and silver, bright with happiness and life and full of curiosity.

She took an involuntary step towards the mirror. The girl in the mirror took a step towards her too. They looked at each other and each lifted a hand, pressing their hands together.

-

*flashback*

"Michiko-sama! Michiko-sama! Please come back! You need to take your bath!" A few maids ran after her as she fled down the hallway, dodging the other servants who were sweeping the floor, she ran towards the grand staircase - her freedom.

_Almost there! Almost there! Who likes to get all wet, slick and soapy – WHAM!_

Michiko crashed into something, or rather, someone who caught her before she fell. Michiko scowled slightly before looking up to yell at whoever bumped into her, but her face immediately brightened as she saw who it was.

"Shuuhei- nii-chan! Did you come to visit me?"

"Michiko-sama, have you been giving the maids trouble again?" Hisagi Shuuhei's voice was amused, but slightly reprimanding.

Despite her learning in manners, Michiko allowed herself to pout and frown.

"I hate baths!" Her arms crossed defiantly. Shuuhei chuckled.

"But you need baths, without them, you'd been dirty and grimy and no boys would like you. Besides, if you take baths, you'll be prettier and your beautiful blue-silver eyes would be brighter."

"Really?" Shuuhei chuckled, glad that she was easily appeased and tapped her lightly on the nose.

"Really. Now go and take your bath."

"Will Shuuhei-nii-chan wait for me?" Her bright silver-blue eyes looked hopefully up at him.

"Of course, Michiko-sama, today is my visiting day."

With a bright smile, Michiko ran back into the bathroom and slammed the door shut. Shuuhei winced, she was truly too enthusiastic sometimes.

*end flashback*

-

Michiko frowned and pulled her hand back from the mirror. Sighing, she shook her head and turned, lowering her body into the hot bath that she had drawn for herself. She'd been reminiscing about the past too much these days.

It was lunchtime already and Ichigo had not come to school yet. Having spent the whole night at Inoue's house, Michiko had no idea what happened. She was far from worried, however. Strange things always happened in the Kurosaki household.

Stepping into the classroom, she immediately froze. What… what was this… power? It was big and slightly suffocating.

Worried, she let her eyes sweep over the students into the classroom, trying to find the source of that unearthly power.

_Ichigo! It's you! It's you, isn't it? Why? How? Why did you so suddenly…_

"Hey Ichigo, I heard that a truck crashed into your house! Is it true?" Ichigo's every-annoying (and perverted) friend Asano Keigo bombarded him with questions.

"Yeah. I had to stay and help clean up. That's why I couldn't come until now."

_A TRUCK? A truck crashed into the house. A truck crashed into the house. A TRUCK crashed into the house._

As hard as she tried to believe that, it was impossible. Just like yesterday, Ichigo was still as different as ever. There was apparently a lot on his mind.

_Ichi-nii, just what is it? What is bothering you? Why aren't you talking to me? Why won't you tell me about your problems like you used to? I want to know._

Troubled, she turned to leave for lunch with the girls, not even noticing the presence of a short, raven-haired girl's entrance.

"Attention, class!" Ochi-sensei's loud voice rang out, silencing the chatter of the students.

"For the next few months, there will be a new exchange student joining our class. Please treat her well. Exchange student, please come in."

A short girl dressed in the school uniform opened the door. She looked up and the first thing Michiko noticed were her violet eyes. Raven-colored hair grew slightly past her shoulders flaying outwards slightly at the ends. A long bang fell in front of her face. She gave everyone a sweet smile.

"Hajimemashita. Watashi wa Kuchiki Rukia desu. Doujyo Yoroshiku." She smiled sweetly again before heading to her seat, passing Michiko on the way.

_What!? It can't be! THE Kuchiki Rukia? Why is she here!?_

_-_

Author's note: Oooooh! A cliffie! Who's Kuchiki Rukia and what is she to our Shirakawa Michiko? Read to find out!

Japanese lesson:

Hajimemashite – pleased to meet you (actually it actually means something like 'this is our first time meeting each other, how do you do' – something like that )

Watashi wa Kuchiki Rukia desu – my name is Kuchiki Rukia

Doujyo Yoroshiku – ok this is like a Chinese/Japanese/Korean etc. saying. (I'm Chinese so I knoe…) basically its manners like when you first meet someone. The meaning is something like 'If I have areas that need improvement (manners, attitude etc.) please correct me'.

Ok! That's it! Look forward to the next chapter!

-


	3. Crossroad in her life

-

Author's note: OMG! it seems as if they're getting shorter and shorter! Sorry! I'll try to make the next one a bit longer! oh gosh! I'm going to fail as an author! Oh! and so sorry for not updating sooner! its just that this is an important academic year and if I don't get in the top 35 ranks in my grade (200+ppl) I won't be able to choose the subjects I like for high school! So then, I had a chem. test and a phy. test the other day, and I'll have a hist. test and Eng. test soon. (by the way,I live in hk, so yeah...)

-

Crossroad in her Life

-

Sitting at her desk, with her head propped up by her arm, Michiko twirled a pen in her hand while pretending to listen to the teacher ramble on and on about physics.

Ever since her memory began, Michiko had been aware. She had been aware of power, the aura which surrounded or came from others… Auras similar to the evil aura of the white masked monster which had killed her 10 years ago.

She had grown up around those auras. She could sense that both her Otou-sama and Okaa-sama were powerful. Even her foster brother Ichigo had a large one. On the first day of high school, she had already noticed Ishida Ametatsu, whom everyone called Uryuu. He was truly a powerful one, but his aura was more… organized… like he knew what to do with it.

Ichigo's however, like the auras that had slowly appeared within Arisawa-san and Inoue-san was just an aura, a sense of power. It had no purpose, at least until yesterday, when _Kuchiki Rukia_ had appeared.

Michiko's eyes narrowed. Her thoughts flew back to a ball hosted in honor of her younger sister's birth.

-

*flashback*

A young girl hid behind her father's back as many tall figures entered their mansion. She did not know these people and nor did they seem to know her.

All that she knew, was that these were her Otou-sama's companions and that she should stay out of the way.

"Michiko-sama…" a deep voice drawled out. Michiko shrank back further behind her father. That was the voice of Shirakawa Tatsuo, one of the elders of her family. She hated him. He really was annoying.

A gentle hand softly touched her shoulder. She looked up to see her mother smile at her and then at the elder. Reluctantly, she stepped out from behind her father and faced the elder, while giving him her frostiest glare.

"Michiko-sama, may I introduce Kuchiki Byakuya-sama and his sister, Lady Kuchiki Rukia-sama, along with Lieutenant Abarai Renji." The elder turned her around to face the said figures.

Michiko let her eyes travel up to see the stoic cold face of the first man mentioned and her head immediately lowered and she bowed.

"Michiko-sama, address Kuchiki-sama!" elder Tatsuo hissed, completely lacking respect. She shot him another glare before turning back to the said person. She gulped nervously.

"Kuchiki-sama…" she swept a curtsy. The man nodded and moved on to greet her parents after giving her a calculating stare. Michiko noticed the sword strapped at his waist and gulped. Lady Kuchiki Rukia-sama entered the house after her brother.

"Shirakawa-dono." Her alto voice was gentle. She was much shorter than her brother and had violet eyes with raven-black hair which just touched her shoulders.

"Kuchiki-dono." Michiko gave amother formal bow, but was stopped by Kuchiki-dono.

"There is no need to be so formal. Please call me by my name." The young woman and the girl smiled at each other.

Lieutenant Abarai and Rukia-dono were much easier to communicate with, and they were the closest thing to friends that Michiko ever had. They talked and enjoyed themselves. For that one time in her life, Michiko felt that becoming friends with a noble was possible.

That was the only one time that she ever saw them, half a year later, her parents died and she had to move away and put her past life behind her.

*end flashback*

-

Michiko's eyes narrowed. That new exchange student was definitely the same Kuchiki Rukia as the one from 10 years ago. Even then, she had been able to define Kuchiki-sama's, hers and Lieutenant Abarai's powers. Then, would that mean that she was the cause for Ichigo's sudden change in form of power?

Her train of thought was suddenly broke of by a yell.

"Sensei! I need to use the toilet!" A gust of wind blew her hair into her face as Ichigo rushed past her and ran out the door.

"Sensei! I am not feeling well! I need to go to the nurse's office!" Kuchiki Rukia ran out after him.

A small vein popped in her forehead, her head still propped up, but her hand stopped spinning her pen. That too, had been going on ever since Ichigo returned to school at lunch. It wasn't as if she minded… it was rather amusing, seeing those two coming up with the lamest, dumbest excuses ever. Not to mention, Kuchiki Rukia hadn't aged at all, ever since they last met. It was... strange.

She just wondered what they were doing… alone… together… when classes were going on… Yeah! It didn't bother her at all. She wasn't a nosy person for Pete's sake. It really didn't matter what her foster brother was doing with some girl…

A flash of movement caught her eye. Without moving her head, her eyes shot to the window. There was Ichigo outside, with Rukia, wearing a… what was with that black kimono and that huge sword?

Her eyes roamed the classroom. Orihime and Tatsuki were listening to the teacher, the rest of the class was half sleeping. No one seemed to have noticed … except… Ishida Ametatsu-san, who cleared his throat slightly, adjusted his glasses and peered out the window, glaring.

_He can see them!_

This time, turning her whole head towards the window, she watched Ichigo yell something at the girl and draw his sword, flying agilely from roof to roof…

"Shirakawa-san! Could you answer the question that I just asked!?" Ochi-sensei demanded.

_How nice of her to pick on me!_

She slowly stood up to rack her brain for an answer… she didn't even hear the teacher ask it.

_Um… Tsukihana?_ The voice in her head gave an annoyed sigh and a mutter.

_She asked you to explain the causes and effects of the first world war… Listen during class!_

_Right!_

Michiko focused on her textbook once more and answered the teacher's question, her mind temporarily taken off of her foster brother's strange actions.

* * *

One day had passed since Kuchiki Rukia's arrival to Karakura High School. Ichigo and Rukia still skipped classes often with the excuse of the bathroom, and Ishida continued to glare. Michiko sighed through all of her morning classes.

Now it was lunch. As always, Michiko left the classroom earlier than any of the other girls and went to the big tree where they always had lunch. Lifting her arm, she grasped a thick branch and swung herself onto the tree, reaching out and catching her obento before it fell back down.

Yuzu had prepared two onigri for her with tuna filling. Leaning onto the trunck of the tree, she ate slowly, waiting for the other girls to come.

She didn't wait long. Soon after, the girls walked out of the school and headed towards her. Michiko tensed as she realized that there was a new member of their lunch gathering.

_Kuchiki Rukia-dono…_

She grit her teeth. Come to think of it, it was very strange. Rukia-dono had not aged in any way, since their meeting ten years ago. She still looked as she had before, same face, same hair, and even the same height. Nothing had changed. Michiko turned her head slightly, scrutinizing the girl carefully. What was it? Why had she not changed? Just who was she? What was she?

"Ah! That's Shirakawa Michiko-san." Orihime had noticed her tense glare and had introduced her.

_Not as if she really needed to…_

"Shirakawa-san… Hajimemashite! Watashi wa Kuchiki Rukia. Doujyo yoroshiku." A huge smile plastered on her face, Kuchiki Rukia bowed and introduced herself, looking up at her sitting on the branch of the tree.

Michiko turned away.

"Hajimemashite." She replied coldly. There was a shocked silence from below.

"Ano, Shirakawa-san, you seem rather familiar to me. Have we met before?" Rukia broke the silence. When Michiko turned to face her again, not a trace of a smile was on Rukia's face, her purple eyes were clearly looking at her, expression serious.

"No… I do not believe that we have." Michiko replied slowly, her eyes meeting Rukia's.

"Ano, Kuchiki-san. Please excuse Shirakawa-san. You can't blame her! She's been like that ever since 10 years ago, when her parents died! She was so sad! So she started to become all cold and mean!" Orihime's bubbly voice interrupted their staring contest, excusing her rude behavior and rattling on about her parents. She turned back to her own lunch as Rukia's fake smile reappeared.

"Oh, is that so? I can't blame her at all! If such a thing happened to me, I wouldn't have been able to cope either!" Michiko ignored her, but turned to face Inoue.

"Orihime." Inoue's face immediately snapped towards hers.

"It is unnecessary for you to excuse my behavior towards Kuchiki-san." She spoke coldly. Orihime's face was shocked. Michiko deftly leaped off the tree branch, landing gracefully on her own feet.

"Excuse me. I will be leaving now." She spoke with her back turned towards the group of girls and strode away.

_Kuchiki Rukia, why are you here? _There was a slight rustle in the depths of her mind. Michiko suddenly had a nagging feeling in her heart.

_Tsukihana, you know the answer don't you? You know what she is, don't you? You know who Otou-sama and Okaa-sama were, don't you? You know who those murderers were, don't you? Tsukihana… you know what I am… don't you…_Michiko leaned back onto the tree trunk, closing her eyes.

_Michiko-sama… I always have answers. That which blinds your eyes to truth is worthless fear. Cast them off and embrace the truth my child. I will be with you…_

_I am afraid…_ She hated how weak she sounded.

_To fear is a natural thing. To fear does not mean to be a coward. To fear and to allow your fear to blind your judgments… that is cowardice. _Tsukihana's voice was so comforting… so motherly… always offering a piece of good advice.

_So… it finally is time… isn't it? The worst part of a girl's nature is curiosity._ She smiled wryly. Tsukihana chuckled.

_That depends on your point of view, Michiko-sama. It is your curiosity that will bring you wisdom, knowledge and strength._

_Then you must be a very curious person then, Tsukihana._ Tsukihana only 'hn'ed once in reply. In her mind, Michiko saw a small mysteriously smile on a beautiful, pale face.

* * *

Ishida Ametatsu. He was her nemesis… even in their first year as freshmen, within the first quarter, their competition in the academic area was already infamous. In the first semester, he had ranked first in the whole grade and she had ranked second. She wouldn't have hated him so badly if he were more gentlemanly about it.

This was the second semester and Michiko was determined to make first rank in the finals of the year. Already, in the term tests, she had highest marks in chemistry, literature, Japanese language, geography and history. He had the highest marks in physics, biology, maths and computer. For now, she was in the lead.

Putting grades and such aside, he was one of the people who had caught her eye on the first day of school. It was that aura of power, subdued but refined. It had a purpose. That would mean that he probably knew about Kuchiki Rukia's secret and possibly about her own past.

_That would mean that you should put aside your pride and ask him._

_Tsukihana… _

_Michiko-sama… do you fear. It is cowardly to allow your fear to affect your choices. To fear is normal but you must take control over yourself and beat back that fear, strive to reach the truth. You may be able to live a more peaceful life, protected from the truth, but would you be comfortable? Would you be happy?_

_Tsukihana…I only want… to find my sister… and fulfill my promise… to my parents…_

_What of vengeance!? Do not be selfish! As a Shirakawa, it is your duty to find your clan's murderer and avenge their deaths!_

Michiko was silent for a long time. Then, she sighed and entered the classroom, preparing herself for class, while thinking of her predicament.

_Indeed, my life is at a crossroad… to turn right… the easy way out… or to turn left… and to find the truth… eventually… I must embrace my future…and follow my fate… that is the duty of a noble._

Class dragged on slowly. English Language… economy… and Physical education… now Ishida and her were at a tie with Ishida outranking her in English Language and receiving the same mark in economy… she decided, that she hated tests.

_I'm getting stressed out…_ she groaned in her brain as she collapsed on her desk and huffed, glaring at her English Language test. She sneaked a look at Ishida and a vein immediately popped in her forehead. He was looking straight at her out of the corner of his eye and adjusting his glasses. She immediately sat up straight and glared right back at him. The air around her was starting to turn black. The whole class jumped away from her a few feet. They were used to the angry aura that she gave off but was still more than afraid of it.

Her serious look suddenly morphed into a small smile, her eyes closed and her lips turned up, but the atmosphere around her was still black. Students were starting to scoot away from her, sweating profusely. Ichigo looked annoyed with his head propped on his hand. Ishida stared right back at her, readjusting his glasses again while raising an eyebrow.

Suddenly, her smile and atmosphere disappeared and she slowly opened her eyes completely, meeting his eyes. Tension crackled between them for about 10 seconds before, simultaneously, they broke eye contact. Ishida adjusted his glasses (again) as he turned away, and Michiko lifted her chin higher, facing the other direction. The whole class sweat dropped.

The teacher sighed in relief. Used to such behavior from the two of his star students, every single exchange between the two was so frightening that everyone had to hold their breath and hope that their exchange wouldn't turn to violence. Although violence had never happened before, the teacher was sure that their silent challenge towards each other would one day turn into violence. The quick mood swing in Miss Shirakawa was also very frightening to see as well.

"Sorry, teacher. I need to use the washroom! Stomach problems!" Ichigo rushed past her, Kuchiki Rukia following closely behind him.

"Um… he might faint in the washroom! I'll take him to the nurse's office!"

_And that just reminded me of my predicament again._ Giving out an uncharacteristically loud groan, she dropped with her head in her hands on the desk again. All students and the teacher jumped away from her in shock as the atmosphere around her began to turn black again.

* * *

It was nearly summer. The weather was already beginning to warm and the sun shone brightly. Nevertheless, a slight breeze blew past Michiko as she stepped out of the school gates, carrying her books in hand.

She walked quietly, her footsteps silent, across the road, through the shopping center, across the plaza and into a neighborhood.

"How long to plan on continuing to follow me, Shirakawa-san?" She stopped short before slowly turning the corner and coming face to face with Ishida.

"What is your purpose for following me?" He continued to ask. She walked up to him.

"Ishida-san. I sense power from you. I have felt so ever since the beginning of this school year, I have noticed your inner power. I have also noticed a change in my brother and also the strangeness of Kuchiki Rukia's actions. I have reason to believe that you know something that I do not. I have come to ask you to tell me about myself." She looked up, determined to receive an answer from him.

Ishida adjusted his glasses…

-

Author's note: See! I told you they were getting shorter! They're going to get shorter and shorter and shorter and shorter! Noooooooo! I'm gonna die! I'm gonna faaaaaaaiiiiil! ok! enough! I am now back to normal. I'm sorry everyone, the stress from tests and projects is getting to me. I'm going a little weird in the head. Even my friends think so. i'll try to update soon.

-


	4. Revelations of the Past

-

Author's note: I think I did a pretty gd job this time ^ ^ its exactly 2 weeks since I last updated. I've been busy. So maybe in the summer, I'll be updating every two days or something. Also, I'm slightly disturbed. I'm not going to make any demands or threats, but frankly, I'be had quite a lot of reads for this particular story, but only one review so far. As an author, I really need to know your opinions on my story and if there are any mistakes that I am making. So, I'd like to request my dear readers to review pls.

-

Revelations of the Past

-

Michiko knelt on a cushion, her hands folded in her lap in front of the small dining table at Ishida's home. A cup of green tea sat in front of her. Across from her sat Ishida, also kneeling on a cushion.

"You wished to ask me about your past and your powers." Her head snapped up at his words. She took a breath.

"Hai. Apart from the fact that I was born in the Shirakawa family, I know nothing about myself. My parents were killed before I was old enough to understand." She took her cup of green tea from the table and turned it twice in her hand as she would in a traditional tea ceremony and took a sip before lowering the cup into her lap.

"Shirakawa-san, while I can answer any questions you may have regarding you powers and reiatsu, I am not sure if I know anything else about your family or your past." Ishida spoke matter-of-factly.

"Reiatsu." She spoke it as a statement meant to be a question.

"Your power… or aura as you call it."

"I see," she paused for a while to take another sip of her tea.

"Perhaps then, I should tell you more about my past so that you can explain more to me." She took a deep breath.

"I am the daughter of Shirakawa Ryuunosuke and Shirakawa Risami. Before my mother's marriage, she was known as Tsukiyori Risami." She looked up as she heard Ishida gasp in shock.

"Forgive my earlier rudeness to you, Michiko-sama. I did not know of your noble heritage. Please excuse me." Ishida put his hands on the floor in front of him and touched his head to the floor in a sign of respect.

Michiko sat in silent shock, not really understanding what was happening and not able to comprehend why her academic rival would submit to her in such a way. Nevertheless, she was a noble. She cleared her throat.

"Ano… it is alright, please raise your head. There is no need for such formality between us, Ishida Ame-Uryuu-san." She remembered in the nick of time that he had requested her to address him as 'Uryuu' instead of 'Ametatsu'.

_This Michiko has spent to much time among commoners, that we are becoming unaccustomed to our manners. _She thought in her mind, temporarily slipping into her noble language again.

Ishida lifted his head, seeing the confusion in Michiko's face. He cleared his throat and began to explain.

"If your mother is indeed Tsukiyori Risami-dono, then I believe that I understand your current predicament."

"Explain." She stared at him stonily and he sighed.

"Hai. However, before I tell you of your past, Michiko-sama, there are things that you need to know." He paused for a while.

"From what you have told me before, a hollow killed you soon after your family was killed. Hollows are evil spirits who consume the spirits of the living, targeting those with high spirit power, such as yourself and your foster family. The hole in their chest signifies the absence of a heart. Sometimes, a dead spirit who is unable to rest in peace wanders around the earth and may become a hollow due to their heavy-hearted feelings." Ishida explained as he looked up to her.

She nodded to show that he understood. He continued with his explanation.

"Then, there are the Shinigami. Their job is to supposedly purify these hollows with their zanpakuto and send the purified spirit of the hollow along with the souls they have eaten to Soul Society. Their zanpakuto are spirits too and they stay in the inner worlds of the shinigami. Kuchiki Rukia, the new exchange student is a shinigami who is wearing a faux body so that humans without spirit power can see her. This is probably due to the fact that she transferred her powers to Kurosaki a day ago." Ishida continued to say.

_Zanpakuto…That would be something like Tsukihana…_ she made the connection quickly and heard Tsukihana give a pleased chuckle inside her mind.

_A day ago… so that was why Ichi-nii's aura…I mean reiatsu felt different._

"Lastly, there are Quincys. Quincys are humans with high spirit power who invented ways to obliterate hollows, thinking that they are avenging their friends. However, this is not so because they are erasing the existence of the soul in all these worlds- Soul Society, here on Earth and even in the dwelling of the hollows. They condense their spirit power to form their bows and then take spirit particles from around them, control those spirit particles to form arrows and shoot them. I am a Quincy." Ishida finished the last sentence with an air or pride around him. Michiko didn't notice.

_Tsukihana, the inner hollow and … the arrow which I used to kill that hollow 10 years ago… I am… all 3 of those? What… am I?_ Ishida sat in silence and let her absorb all the details of the information that he had just given her. After a few minutes, she raised her head and nodded her assent for him to continue.

"Apparently, because of the Quincys' obliteration of multiple souls, the number of souls going out of and into Soul Society became unbalanced. If it continued, it would ultimately cause the end of the world and all the different worlds in the current life and afterlife would collapse. So, multiple conferences were held between the Shinigami and Quincys. The Quincys refused to obey the Shinigamis' requests that they leave the hollow-cleansing to them. The relations between the two parties began to worsen."

Ishida took a deeper breath.

"It was around this time, that your father Shirakawa Ryuunosuke-sama, the captain of the 13 court guardian squads' 5th squad, married your mother Tsukiyori Risami-sama, the eldest daughter of one of the noble Quincy clans." He looked up to meet her eyes.

Michiko gripped her cup tightly, nearly unable to comprehend the weight of all the information that Ishida had loaded her with. Ishida continued.

"It was considered a scandal. Your father and his new wife attempted to reason with the higher ups, saying that a compromise could be brought up to dampen the conflicts between the two groups." He paused again.

"What happened?" Michiko's voice was a soft whisper, tense. Ishida shook his head sadly.

"They're arguments were for naught. In the end, instead of peace, the relationships between the two parties worsened and finally ended up in war. During the war, the Shirakawa clan stayed neutral towards both sides and the war finally ended with the near wipeout of the whole Quincy tribe. My family was the only Quincy family left, along with a few other lone Quincys here and there…" He trailed off.

"And my parents? What happened to them? Why were they killed?" Ishida only shook his head at her question.

"After the war, Soul Society deemed it necessary to banish your father's clan along with your mother to earth, the real world. Because, of the services your clan offered Soul Society, they could not execute the clan. Your parents' deaths probably had nothing to do with Soul Society's decisions." Obviously having finished his explanation, Ishida sat in silence, waiting for her to make a comment or ask some questions.

"You seem to hate Shinigami for some reason. Why is that so?" She saw a shadow pass over his eyes and he told her of his grandfather's story.

* * *

It was late, nearly 9 in the evening. Michiko had eaten dinner with Ishida, and he was now walking her home. They shared a companionable silence, mainly because Michiko's mind was loaded with thoughts.

She was not very surprised. She knew that under normal circumstances, she would have gone into shock. Hell, maybe she was already in shock, seeing as she had a huge lack of reaction to the revelations of her past.

_Or, you are in a state of denial. Do you think of Ishida-san's words as a story?_ Tsukihana asked.

_Iie. Perhaps it is because I have been studying history too much and am treating his revelation of my past as another war much like the First World War. Serves you right for always telling me to listen in class. _She retorted in her brain, tone slightly teasing.

_Touché. _Tsukihana chuckled. The two quickly sobered up after that.

_Perhaps it is because my life is filled with such twists and turns that nothing surprises me anymore._ She sighed.

Then, like a ton of bricks, it hit her. Logic. Truth. Words. Logic fought with the truth in her mind. Apparently, according to human logic, Shinigami only exist in fairytales. This species called 'Quincy' have never been heard of before either. Nor has anyone ever heard of this 'Soul Society' before.

_Therefore, one can come to the conclusion that the person who informed me of this 'Soul Society' and 'Quincy' is mad._

Michiko sneaked a look at Ishida. He definitely did not look crazy. She sighed.

_Oh right. I forgot. It was according to _human_ logic. Apparently, I'm not a human. I'm a half human because Quincy are human and Okaa-sama was a Quincy and Otou-sama was a shinigami-a spirit…at least… it would have been that way before that hollow killed me… _

Forget thinking about _what _she was. She would figure that out later. More importantly, Michiko was arranging all the information that Ishida had given her into a tidier story into her mind.

Come to think of it now, it had always been obvious that her family was different. Perhaps it was best to start with the fact that while others called their blood relatives their 'family', she called her's, her 'clan'. Normal families did _not _hirea tutor toteach their daughters to walk like a lady, drink, eat, sit, talk, speak, and act like a lady. Normal families definitely did not hire reknown fighters to teach their children to fight with real knives, swords, shurikan, spears, halberds and every kind of weapon known to man and even more.

Normal families definitely did not teach their nieces seduction arts at the young age of 5 and definitely did not teach them to act like cruel, cold and heartless vixens.

Real families did not send assassins to kill their heiress because they wanted an heir instead.

Michiko sobered immediately, remembering an event that happened soon after her sister was born.

-

*flashback*

Michiko was rudely jerked awake by her sharp senses to an unfamiliar feeling in her room. It had been there for a long time already, but in her exhaustion, she had dismissed it as a new maid come to check on her. Now, the uneasy feeling was to strong and a strong animalistic desire to protect herself surfaced. This feeling was just like the feeling she had during training with Yoruichi-sensei when she had been blindfolded and had to walk around the training ground using her sense of hearing only.

She was in danger. Her eyes snapped open, any thought of rest escaping immediately.

Towering over her was a masked man dressed in black. A dagger was raised above his head, its tip aiming for her chest. He froze as her luminous eyes met his, not expecting to be caught by a mere child.

Taking this as an opening, Michiko flung off the rest of her covers quickly with her arm, swinging her leg out with all her strength, catching him in his stomach. Though her five-year-old strength was no match to his adult strength, it made him stagger backwards a little, enough time for her to make a break as far from him as possible, backing up against the wall.

The adrenaline that she had always felt during training with Yoruichi-sensei immediately faded and was replaced by blatant fear as the man staggered back upright and advanced towards her again. So, she did the only thing that she could do.

She screamed a loudly as she could. The cry was ear-shattering, absolutely blood-curdling. She ducked just as the attacker slashed at her and a vase sacrificed itself in her stead.

Then, her father was suddenly standing there, pulling her out of harms way, drawing a sword at the same time and slashing at the assassin so quickly that Michiko didn't even see him move at all. Her mother had pulled her head into her chest, shielding her from the horrifying view.

Servants, guards, her nurse, many of the elders had appeared at her door, _all_ of them _appearing shocked_ at the scene that lay before them. She saw that they were all in their sleeping clothes. Ryuunosuke dropped his blade and was beside her and Risami at once.

Relief overwhelmed her and she began to cry. Her parents wrapped their arms around her and comforted her, shushing and soothing. She vaguely heard her father yelling orders at the maids and guards, to clean up her room and to triple the guards at her sister's room. Her cries slowly diminished to soft sniffles.

"Michiko-sama!" Hisagi Shuuhei stood there, at a respectful distance away from her parents, looking worried.

"Are you alright? You aren't hurt in any way?" He asked, stepping closer. She sniffled again as she turned in her father's tight arms. She shook her head, sniffling as she curled up again.

"Iie." She paused for a while, then spoke again.

"I kicked him… and now it hurts!" She moved her right leg out from under her white kosode to show him the ugly black bruise that was on her leg. Frightened by the sight of the ugly bruise, she broke into fresh sobs.

She heard a small sigh of relief from her parents. Her father hugged her closer.

"I'm proud of you, Michiko. You did well. You gave him a big bruise too!" He chuckled. She looked up at him, her eyes still filled with tears. Her mother inched closer, lowering her beautiful face to inspect the bruise. She pressed her lips to Michiko's leg.

"There. I kissed it better." Her mother gave her a loving smile.

"Maybe we should wrap it up…" Shuuhei-nii-chan suggested. Nodding, her father picked her up and headed out the door. As they walked down the hall, she looked behind her father's back to see Tatsuo glaring coldly at her.

*end flashback*

-

Michiko smiled a little at her reaction to Hisagi's question that many years ago. She frowned again. It had become a habit to carry a small weapon to bed with her since that night, after a week of nightmares and spending the night with her parents.

It was unlike her to make accusations or jump to conclusions without any proof, but to her, elder Tatsuo's glare had given her all the proof that she had needed.

_Whatever. He's dead now anyhow, he cain't cause me no more trouble!_ She huffed softly in her mind.

_Michiko-sama! _Tsukihana sounded shocked. Michiko rolled her eyes again.

_It matters not. He had left the world of the living and is not able to give this Michiko any more trouble in the future._ She reworded the sentence in her brain in a superior voice before dropping it back into an annoyed tone.

_Better?_ There was a sniff from Tsukihana.

_Much more so than your previous words._ Michiko rolled her eyes.

Speaking of weapons, she thought back to the family heirloom given to her when her sister was born. Now that she was older, she recognized the 'pure fire diamonds fan' as a shukusen, a lady's fan, a deadly weapon. Now doubt, their had been a few adjustments to the priceless clan heirloom so that it would be proper for her to use… so that it would be proper for her, the lady heir of the Shirakawa, to use.

Elder Tatsuo had much more audacity that she first thought that he had. For him to raise a hand against her, how arrogant to think that he could do away with her.

She and Ishida could already see the Kurosaki clinic in the distance. Ishida visibly tensed up as his steps became stiffer. She raised her eyebrows slightly.

"Ishida, Ichi-nii isn't like the other shingami. Despite his rude behaviour and angry scowl, he knows and always does what is right." She turned to face him as she walked. Ishida gave a small 'hmph' at her before realizing what he had done and apologizing profusely for his rudeness towards her, very formally, might I add.

Michiko sighed as she flung open the gate, walked straight up to the door and opened it, completely prepared to see Kurosaki Isshin completely prepared, standing in her face, pointing and completely ready to yell her into oblivion for coming home late.

Isshin froze when he saw Ishida beside her. Ishida adjusted his glasses. Isshin's manners immediately changed when he saw Ishida. Michiko turned quickly and said, "Thankyou for helping me with the project. I will see you tomorrow. Goodbye."

Ishida immediately bowed in returned, "It was my pleasure, Michiko-sama." He then turned and headed away from the Kurosaki clinic very quickly.

"Oh! Are you sure that you won't come in, my foster son-in-law-to-be?" A vein popped in Michiko's forehead as she deftly sidestepped him into the house, reached out and slammed the door close in his face which was sticking out the door slightly. He slid down to crumple down to the floor, before leaping up and running toward the huge poster of Masaki.

"Oh! Mother! Our eldest daughter has found a boyfriend! I was sooooo worried that with her cold disposition, she would never get married! But, she will be married soon! We'll be grandpare-"

His words were cut of by Michiko's foot. He lay twitching on the floor.

"G-good girl. She's feeling so violent today-"

Her foot slammed into the back of his head one more time before turning and heading to the dinner table where Yuzu and Karin looked on.

"Where's Ichigo?" she asked as she sat down.

"He's right… Huh? Where did he go? He was right next to us a second ago…" Michiko sighed at Yuzu's answer.

"It doesn't matter." She accepted the bowl of rice from Yuzu. Piling many other sorts of meat and vegetables into her bowl of rice, she then set down her bowl and chopsticks, clasping her hands together and bowing her head politely.

"Itadakimasu." She kept her head lowered for a millisecond before picking up her chopsticks and bowl, lifting it to her mouth and finished it up in 1 minute, leaving her bowl and the area around her as spotless as before, not a drip of sauce on her clothes or her lips and setting down her bowl and chopsticks.

"Gochisosama deshita. The food was delicious." She clasped her hands and bowed her head again before lifting her schoolbag from where she had set it down and heading towards her room.

"I'm going to continue with my homework." She said as she passed Isshin who was still twitching on the floor.

* * *

Michiko sat in the bath tub, the hot water caressing her skin, her hair tied up in a loose bun as she contemplated the happenings of the day. Many things had been revealed. Yet, many questions had yet to be answered. Her expression became firm as she decided upon her next move.

She could waste no time. Tomorrow. Tomorrow she would go somewhere, a place that she had not been to for 10 years. She would go back to the Shirakawa Mansion for more answers. Hopefully, the ancient dwelling would give her some answers.

She was going back to her old home.

-

Author's note: Thats all for this time. I'm glad to inform everyone that this chapter is longer than the last one by 500+words! Yay for me! Kay, I'm busy right now so I'm going! Ja!


	5. Return to the Mansion

Author's note: OMG! you guys must be soooo proud of me! I mean this is my longest chappie yet and I did it in a bit more than a week even though I had 3 tests this week ^ ^. Thx to everyone who reviewed my last chapter. It seems that begging really helped! So please allow me to continue begging for more reviews!

Disclaimer: wow I finally remembered to do this. Bleach doesn't belong to me... only Shirakawa Michiko does... and the storyline... and the Shirakawa Clan... yeah... I think thats about it.

-

Returning to the Mansion

-

Michiko walked slowly, almost forcing herself to move her legs forward, to push herself closer to her destination. She had not been to the mansion for 10 years already. There was a strange feeling of nervousness inside her and she wondered what had caused it.

Luckily, for some reason, this day had been a half day and students had been allowed to leave at noon.

Speaking of school, she had been worried about going to school today. After learning about her past the day before, Michiko was seeing everything in a different light. It was as if the laughter and chatter of students around her was another world, and she, was a shadow amongst them.

Their naivety was shocking. To think that their lives could end so easily, without a warning, without knowing why they had died…

She had wondered how Ishida would treat her at school, hoping that he would extend the formality between them into the schoolyard, yet knowing that he wasn't a fool. She needn't had worried. He had stopped by her in the morning to nod his head and bid her good morning, but beyond that, his reference to her was a (very) polite 'Shirakawa-san'.

Yet despite the fact that he was the only one who could help her in this case, she hadn't found the courage to ask him to join her to the mansion. She didn't want to impose herself on him, didn't want to abuse the power that came with the status of being a noble.

She sighed. After 10 years of being treated like a 'normal' person, to be suddenly thrown back into a hidden world of politics and statuses was rather tiring. Michiko would much rather be simple friends with Ishida.

She suddenly felt a huge unease, as if something foreboding was about to appear.

Then, feeling a presence behind her, she sighed.

_Being simply friends … not likely…_

"What is it, Ishida?" She turned and greeted him.

"Where are you going? After knowing about yourself as a spiritual being, it is possible that your subdued reiatsu will be released. It is dangerous for you to be wandering around by yourself, Michiko-sama. However, I'll congratulate you for being able to discern that the presence you felt was my reiatsu." He adjusted his glasses.

Suddenly, a bow appeared in his hand and he drew an arrow and shot. The arrow whizzed at her. Jumping out of the way to land in a crouch, she turned just in time, to see the arrow hit a masked monster.

_That… was…_

Weak with shock, she slid down onto her knees.

"Are you feeling alright, Michiko-sama?" Ishida asked as he held out his hand towards her. She took it, and he helped her up.

"Yes, Thank you very much, Ishida." He re-adjusted his glasses, trying to hide the small blush on his cheeks.

"You're welcome. Where are you going, if I may ask, that is, Michiko-sama?" She sighed as she dusted herself off.

"I didn't think that you would come, but it is for the better. I am returning to the old Shirakawa Mansion. I had an urge to go to the library in the mansion to look at the books there. I remembered that when I was young, a huge part of the library was out of bounds for me and I was forbidden to go there. There…. Was a _kekai _preventing me from entering. I have a feeling, that it may hold more secrets."

She brushed herself off and turned to Ishida.

"Please follow after me." Then, she turned and walked off, letting him follow after her.

* * *

This was a road that she had walked many times since those 10 years ago. It was a wide piece of land once owned by her family, a rare piece of green countryside land in the midst of a bustling city. Oh wait, a correction… it is currently still owned by her family.

She began to tense as she walked closer to her childhood home. Ishida walked at a respectable distance from behind her.

_Turn the lane…__through the door of a sturdy fence… __through the thick grove of trees… across a small clearing… __through another forest… __across the bridge over the small stream-_

"Um… Michiko-sama…" She paused in her thinking and turned slightly, stopping. They had already been walking for half an hour.

"Is there a problem, Ishida-kun?" She realized that she was giving him a slightly dark look when he jumped a few steps back.

"Ano… forgive me for interrupting you, Michiko-sama… but why is it that it feels as if we're…. ano… how should I put this…. Trespassing?" She arched an eyebrow at him.

"How so?" He stumbled slightly over his words as he replied.

"Well… if I may ask… Michiko-sama… why is it that we're creeping through a mangrove of trees… it is as if we are stealing into an enemy's home…" He broke off abruptly as her gaze darkened further.

"How observant you are… you only feel that we trespass because you are the only one who's creeping around suspiciously. This is the way that I normally walk to my old home. Deal with it if you will." She turned abruptly and continued walking.

Ishida adjusted his glasses once uneasily and followed after her. They walked further, through another small wood and across a meadow filled with flowers and Ishida noticed that the ground had changed from soil to gravel and finally to a neat and smooth road paved with cement.

Then, suddenly, Michiko stopped in the middle of the cement road. Turning slightly, she waited until Ishida came to stop a few steps behind her.

She lifted her hand and held it in front of her, walked for a few steps, moving her hand in front of her, as if feeling for something. Then, her hand seemed to be stopped by an invisible something. Feeling around in front of her, she finally seemed to find the thing that she was looking for and grabbed hold of it.

Ishida was about to ask her what she was doing, but her voice stopped him.

"Open." The air before her began to flicker and static sizzled around her hand and the air around her hand.

A large metal gate appeared in front of her. She twisted her hand, and with a small crackling sound, the whole illusion and barrier disappeared.

_How strange it is… that even after 10 years, I would still remember so clearly… every single small detail about this place… every…single small detail…_

The two teenagers stood together in silence for a few moments, taking in the scene in front of them. The mansion was undoubtedly old, ancient even. Except for the barred metal gate in front of them, the whole building was surrounded by a wall.

Michiko took a small step closer to the gate, gesturing for Ishida to stay put. Immediately, half a dozen guards appeared, weapons drawn, aiming at them.

_Oh crap… and now… how to convince them… that I am indeed the daughter of the late lord and lady of the Shirakawa estate…eh… I didn't really think about this before I came… ehehehe… I hope I get out of this alive…_

But she needn't have worried. Just as soon as they saw her, they immediately lowered their weapons and one of the men stepped forward.

"Michiko-sama! It has been such a long time! We apologize for attacking you! We had not received word of your sudden visit… that is…AHEM! Michiko-sama, it is a pleasure to receive you again after so long. Please forgive us for not being ready to greet you. We will ask the maids to wait on you." The tall man seemed shocked at first, but quickly toned down into a calmer note when he realized that he was rambling in front of her.

"That will not be necessary. I only came to look at the records in the library… and to visit the resting place of my parents…" she trailed off slightly. The entrance of the gate was starting fill with many maids and servants, all bowing low to her.

"Hai! As you requested when you last came with Urahara-dono 10 years ago, Michiko-sama, the library has been set apart from the rest of the rooms in the mansion along with your parents' armory. No one has entered those two rooms since that day… not even to clean… but besides that, every single room in the mansion has been dusted every day, including your suite and the master suite…of course, only your personal maids have been allowed in those rooms…" A maid stepped forward to speak hesitantly.

Michiko nodded and gave the girl a tentative smile, not remembering how to respond to the girl's report.

"That is… good. However, I need to use the library today, and I do not want to go in while 10 years' worth of dust coats every surface…" She realized that she had forgotten how to order her maids around and felt uneasy doing so.

_10 years… it really has been 10 years since I came here…can 10 years really cause someone to forget so much?_

"We will clean the library for you, Michiko-sama" The maid spoke, still bowed low.

"Good. Please also clean the armory for me. However, I must request that you do not touch anything in the library or the armory with your bare hands. Do not move anything from its' original position. You must only get rid of most of the dust. There is no need to wash everything. Nothing is to move from its position. Am I understood?" Suddenly, remembering something important, Michiko regained her ability to give orders.

The maids nodded and half of them hurried off.

"Now… while I wait for the library to be cleaned… hmmm… what should I do…? I know! Please serve me and my guest some tea… and I want to eat a few tasty snacks! Actually I'm kind of hungry… I haven't even eaten lunch yet…ano… maybe I should eat lunch first…" Michiko suddenly felt like a 5-year-old again in her heart and she stood on her tippy-toes, tilted her head, clasped her hands, and smiled widely, her eyes closing on their own accord.

The maids smiled, remembering their 5-year-old young mistress, all grown up now… and they hurried off to fulfill her wishes.

* * *

"I have a few questions, Michiko-sama." Ishida started tentatively once they were seated comfortably in a large resting room in the mansion. They sat on reclining chairs, facing each other, a cup of tea resting in front of each of them.

"Yes, Ishida?" Even when exhausted to nearly the point of rest, Michiko still managed not to slur her words into more … 'modern' language. She opened her eyes and sat up in her chair.

"You … did not know of anything… otherworldly before you asked me yesterday… but today… you knew how to break the illusion and barrier. You also know of the barrier in your family library which kept you out…"

Michiko took a sip of her tea.

"You wonder why." He nodded mutely as she took another few sips before setting it back down on the table. She had been comfortable enough around him to drop most formalities and politeness. She wondered why he had not.

"Ishida, you must understand that I was born in this family and before my parents' untimely death, I had never set foot outside of the family lands. I can only guess that my parents had meant for me to stay within our lands for the rest of my life. I lived around barriers such as these, and to me, it was normal…"

Michiko stopped short, not really sure how to express herself.

_Gosh! This guy… is he trying to challenge my intellect. Gosh! He's trying to make me express hard terms! Geez!_

_What did I tell you about unladylike language, Michiko-sama?_ Tsukihana.

_That I should never say such things… even if the people around me say it…_she droned in her mind, much like a child being scolded for doing something wrong… repeatedly…

"I suppose that I treated it as a little human girl would have treated … say… a door in their home. I learned that it was door and immediately knew that it was something that was part of daily life in the world. I never knew that it was something otherworldly… I saw those barriers in the family lands often enough, saw my parents open and close them… learned to do it myself…" She shrugged.

"I see. Do you think, Michiko-sama, that there was anything else that was part of your daily life in the past but was also otherworldly?" Ishida pressed on.

"Hmm. On second thought, I can. Most of the people that I knew were probably either _Shinigami_ or _Quincy_… or something else… my sensei who taught me fighting was one of them. Most of the people who came to the ball hosted in honor of my sister's birth probably were also… well… they were definitely not humans…" Ishida nodded and immediately dropped the topic.

Come to think of it, that Urahara guy that helped her hadn't been human either. She had sensed it long ago, but knew that he meant no harm towards her… well he was a pervert… but he was probably scared of her at the same time. He had helped her get back into her body after the hollow (as she now knew it) killed her. He was definitely something else… And _she_ would have to look up his name in the library … after the servants finished cleaning it up, that is.

Then again, Michiko began to wonder why Urahara had to take her to the Kurosakis and she wondered if it had anything to do with the huge mass of reiatsu that the family possessed.

Learning about Shinigami had brought a whole to look to life and a whole new batch of questions. Who had killed her parents? At first, she had thought that they had been killed by someone from the Shirakawa Corps' rival company or perhaps someone who wanted to take control of the corps.

She had before considered Shirakawa Tatsuo as the convict, but brushed it off just as quickly. Elder Tatsuo may have disliked her, but it was obvious that her Otou-sama was many times more powerful than he. Not to mention, Shirakawa Tatsuo himself had perished on that fateful night.

Did their deaths have any links to Shinigami at all? Some shinigami who hated Quincys? Perhaps the court guardian squads changed their minds? The possibilities were indeed endless.

"Michiko-sama?" Ishida broke into her line of thought again.

"Hn?" She replied absently-mindedly.

"Ano… none of your clan has been living in this mansion for a long time. Yet there are still many servants and guards here running about…"

"Did you expect the Shirakawa clan to be so uncompetitive? There must always be someone to take care of the Shirakawa clan lands as long as one of the clan is alive. Besides, the Shirakawa clan has too much money. We can feed the servants until the day that they die and still have enough to buy all of the land in the world." She gave him a 'higher than thou' look. He adjusted his glasses.

"I was wondering… about the orders that you gave when you came here last about the cleaning or lack thereof of the library and the armory…" She interrupted him again.

"I was not the one to give them those orders. It was Urahara Kisuke, the man who took me to the Kurosakis. He seemed to know much about the way noble houses are run. I saw no problems in his orders and did not disagree. Besides, I was still too distraught to think clearly…" Ishida nodded and they lapsed into silence as the servants served them their lunch and they waited for them to finish cleaning.

* * *

Michiko stepped into the library with Ishida. The curtains to the huge windows had been opened by the servants and the mid-afternoon light illuminated the once dim library. It had not been used for 10 years, but its condition was at its finest.

Michiko nodded her approval at the servants' cleaning and dismissed them, walking over the table in the middle of the huge room. She motioned for Ishida to take a seat across from her.

"Today, I came here to look for records on Soul Society and for information about certain people. I have a few inquiries about some people that I knew in the past." She stood up and walked over to a stand with only one large book on it. Grabbing it, she turned and headed back to Ishida.

"The Shirakawa clan is an old clan and its libraries one of the richest and best informed in the world. This room is only a small part of the library that we have. Here is a layout of this library. The library is very well coordinated and divided into sections. You can use this book to look for the section that you need." She flipped open the book.

"Look here," she said, pointing at the map of the grand library. "This ¾ of the library holds information about Soul Society. You are to help me look there for the laws in Soul Society and the following names: Urahara Kisuke, Shihouin Yoruichi and Kuchiki Rukia or Kuchiki Byakuya. I am not sure if this name will be in there, but if you can find it, please find the name Kurosaki Isshin. Also, find me a book about the government system or structure of Soul Society. Got it?" Ishida twitched, writing down the list of things that she required, sweat running down his brow.

In the 10 grand rooms of the library, he would have to find much information. He looked around at the millions of bookshelves that surrounded him and gulped. This would be a long afternoon.

"While you are looking for the information that I require, I will be in my father's study. There is something that I want to check there. If you need me, either find me by yourself or ask the servants to take you there."

"Hai…"

A pause.

"Why are you still standing there? Get looking!" Michiko huffed and turned on her heel, disappearing among the forest of bookshelves. Then, Ishida heard a door open and close, signaling her departure. With a sigh, he took the floor plan of the library and began to look for books.

Michiko stepped into her fathers study, breathing in the smell of wood and books, still present after 10 years of confinement. Her Otou-sama loved books. Slowly, she walked over to his desk, eyes set on the journal that he had always kept.

-

*flashback*

4-year-old Michiko sat in her father's study, struggling to keep her eyes open as they sagged with sleep. She was finally free from her lessons and wanted to spend time with Okaa-sama, but Otou-sama scolded her and ordered her to leave Okaa-sama alone because Okaa-sama needed rest.

Okaa-sama was pregnant with her second child. She only wanted to see Okaa-sama once before she slept. She knew that she wouldn't get to see Okaa-sama the next day because everyone would be too busy…

She had begun to cry and sob, upset that she was being kept away from her mother, and afraid that his wife would awaken, her father grabbed her and dragged her into his study, pushing her into a chair and telling her to be quiet.

Her sobbing had gradually diminished as she watched her father work and now, the aftereffect of crying was beginning to set in. Her lids weighed tons and her eyes were practically swollen.

"Otou-sama?" Her father looked up at her.

"What is it?" Not put off in the least by his cold tone, Michiko continued.

"What are you doing, Otou-sama?" She was desperately trying to keep herself awake.

"I am working. And you are bothering me. Leave and go to bed. It is much later than your normal resting time." His answer was short and frosty.

"What are you working on, Otou-sama?" She continued to question him. He seemed to consider something.

"If I show you, you must promise me not to bother your mother tonight. You may see her in the morning." Nodding her assent, Michiko stood up and ran to Otou-sama's desk, trying in vain to see past the top of the wooden structure.

Her father reached down and picked her up, setting her on his knee. He picked up his pen and continued writing. Fascinated, she watched his hands move gracefully over the paper of his thick book.

Her face lighting up in wonderment as she pointed to some words on the paper, she looked up at him.

"That's my name, Otou-sama." He paused in his writing.

"Hn. It is." He confirmed. She turned to try and decipher the rest of his words.

"What are you writing about?" She asked. He hesitated before answering.

"It is not for you to know today. Perhaps… some day in the future, you will be able to read it and will find out much from it." His voice sounded distant, but she chose not to comment on it and continued watching as he wrote, his slow, graceful movements, coaxing her tired eyes close and the warmth of his body lulling her to sleep.

*end flashback*

-

"Otou-sama, I hold you to your promise. This is the day that I must read your journal. I must find out more about you." Slowly, she traced the edges of the thick book.

She knew she was hesitating, stalling, wondering if she really should find out about her parent's political background, wondering if she was doing right.

Steeling herself, she sat down in her father's chair and grasped the book, opening it to the first page. It was dated 10 years prior.

-

_August_

_My daughter Michiko,_

_I know that one day in the near future when I am not here, you will find a way to discover your past and my and your mother's history. I know that you will come back to find out more about Soul Society._

_It is time that I be honest with you. I am a Shinigami. Your mother is a Quincy. The hostility between our two races, you will probably already know of by that time you open this book._

_I wanted to clarify something with you. Your mother and I, we are not what we seem to be. We have an enemy. This enemy's name, I cannot write here, but I assure you, when you see him or feel his reiatsu, you will know who it is._

_Your mother and I both love you very much, we leave you for your own safety. It is only after we leave that you will be safe from him. Your younger sister who will be born in half a year's time, we want you to love her as we love you, but if you cannot keep her safe, we do not blame you…_

_-_

This was… a long letter from her father to her? She quickly skimmed through the next few pages. It was telling her the truths of their family. She hugged the book to her chest.

_Otou-sama, I understand…I love you and Okaa-sama too... I will read the words that you have left me, and I will treasure your trust in me… arigatou gonzaimasu… Otou-sama…_

* * *

Michiko stood in her old room, nearly in a trance, as she looked around, memories tumbling through her mind as she set her eyes on different objects, all her toys, her books…

Walking over to the bookshelf, she took out a thick black leather book and slowly opened it. Rows of keys for all her hiding places and precious boxes presented themselves to her. Running her hand down the row, she stopped at the last one.

Yes… nearly 10 years ago, when her father had given her the fan, she now recognized it as a _shukusen,…_ it was the last time that she had put something in a hidden place. Turning to the back of the leather book, she examined the map showing all the hiding places in her chambers.

Not as if she really needed to… she remembered every day at the manor… every single detail… as if it were the last that she would have there… every single niche… every single corner… she had locked every detail into her brain.

Turning back to the last key, she pulled it out and headed towards the wall between her bookshelf and bed and reached out, grabbing and the wall and pulling a chunk of it out.

The hole was a lot smaller than she remembered it to be… or perhaps it was just because she had grown.

No matter. Michiko turned to check that every door was locked before crouching and crawling into the hole, through the small and short tunnel into a hidden room. In the center, the treasure box lay, not even covered with a speck of dust.

_A… barrier against dust perhaps? Hmmm that has to be it._

Reaching out, she took the treasure chest and opened it with the key and took the shukusen kept inside it.

She had finished reading the journal her father had left. It was incomplete. The book was still half empty. Clearly, her family had been murdered before her father had finished that book.

_And clearly, the murderer's intent was simply to kill as he had not taken any precious artifacts or any books in the library._

She had checked… or rather, the servants had checked for her. It took no more than 10 minutes, with all the servants that she had. The hundreds of servants counted the library books and none of them had been missing.

'_Very soon, our enemy will reveal himself to the Soul Society, proving himself as a threat.'Those were her Otou-sama's words._

She, Michiko, would act upon his unspoken wishes and take that chance to kill him and avenge her family.

_My hands are already tainted. There is nothing that anyone can do to save me… I will kill him… even if I do die in the process…_

Michiko took the _shukusen_ from its silk covered holder and closed the treasure box again, leaving it in the hidden room as she took the key and the fan, crawled out of the hole, dusted herself off and fixed the wall again. She turned and put the key back in the black leather book and placed it back on the shelf.

Dusting herself off, she took the _shukusen _and left her old room, to where Ishida was waiting, carrying a huge load of books that he had found in the library, beads of sweat dripping down his brow.

"Well now, let's go!" She said giving him a wide smile, her eyes closing into mere slits.

* * *

Although Michiko was filled with trepidation about taking the books from their sanctuary in fear of dirtying or tearing them, she wanted to find out as much as possible and wanted to do so as quickly as possible too.

She could only hope that Ichigo wouldn't find them. It wouldn't matter if Yuzu or Karin did. Neither were as nosy as Ichigo and the books could easily be passed off as fiction. Even so, she would have to hide them somewhere safe, promising herself to return them as quickly as possible. It was best if no one saw them.

Hours passed. It was nearly 10pm. Michiko had already run through the books on Soul Society laws and the government system. Surprisingly, Ishida had done quite a good job in gathering the books. He had gathered a huge stack of books listing the laws of Soul Society, a few books on the noble clans, a brief history of the Shihouin clan and the Kuchiki clan respectively and a few books listing former captains of Soul Society and some on the current seated members in Soul Society.

One of those captain books even listed the names and a brief description of abilities of the captian's zanpakutous.

Now that she was done with the government system of Soul Society, she turned to the other books, mentally thanking Ishida for book marking them for her as she turned to the marked pages.

_Urahara Kisuke. Former 12__th__ division captain and also the founder of the Shinigami Research Institute. He was to be executed along with a few others around one century ago after being accused of betrayal to the 13 Court Guardian Squads but disappeared before the verdict was carried out._

Michiko frowned. With her limited knowledge of shinigami and the Gotei 13, that paragraph didn't help much. She turned to the page about Shihouin Yoruichi, but that page didn't help her much either, even though she knew Yoruichi-sensei personally. She put aside that book and turned to another one.

_Shihouin Yoruichi. Former _Tenshi Heisou Ban_ of the Shihouin family, captain of the 2__nd__ division and also the former _Guundanchou_ in _Onmitsukidou_._ _Disappeared a century ago, rumored to have done so to escape the Gotei 13 with Urahara Kisuke the 12__th__ division captain…_

Michiko reread that paragraph, then she turned back to the first book and turned to the section about the 2nd division. There was a brief description of Shihouin Yoruichi, but nothing more. All that she got was that Shihouin Yoruichi knew Urahara Kisuke personally. She knew that to find more information, she would have to find those two people. Since Yoruichi-sensei used to be her teacher, she was possibly in the human world here-_BANG!_

"Oi. Michiko, teach me how to do my math-" He was cut off by Michiko's shriek.

"Kyyyyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! GET OUT!" Michiko flung all the books away from her as she cart wheeled out of her chair and aimed a kick at him, catching him in the chest and effectively kicking him out of the room before slamming the door closed behind him and locking it.

Michiko slid down against the closed door, clutching at her wildly beating heart, breathing hard, her hackles raised.

_That… was close… I can't believe I forgot to lock the door…_

_I don't understand you Michiko-sama, why is it that you won't let Ichigo-sama know about you?_ Tsukihana inquired.

_Fool! Imagine his reaction! I intend to not let him know anything until he finds out on his own. Oh, AND DON"T CALL HIM _ICHIGO-SAMA_! _She finished with a shudder. She felt Tsukihana chuckle at her wrecked nerves as she slid back into the depths of her inner world.

Slowly, Michiko got up and walked back to her desk, flinching slightly as she saw the books flung around her room.

_I hope I didn't tear any of them…_

Then her eyes caught on some small writing at the back of the captains' record book.

_Otou-sama's writing… an address? Urahara shoten… hey… isn't that where Yuzu goes shopping…?_

Michiko felt an evil smirk rising on her face as she slowly closed all the books and hid them in her bookshelf behind her music score books.

_Urahara Kisuke… I… found… you…just you wait…I'm coming for you…_

It was all she could to do to keep from breaking out into mad cackling.

_Michiko-sama! Get a hold of yourself! You are a noble! Act like one! _Tsukihana teased at her.

_Yare, yare… listen to the ole' zanpakutou… mistress…_ and her inner hollow burst into mad raucous laughter, sending shivers down Michiko's spine.

_Don't worry… I don't think I'll be cackling madly any time soon…_

Outside the door, Ichigo lay flattened on the floor straining himself as he tried to get up.

"Where… the crap… did she learn… to do… that…?"

* * *

Author's note: I got a review saying that my summary was boring. Yeah I know... I can't really sum everything up in that small sentence... so I changed it to an excerpt from the 1st chappie. I hope it isn't misleading. I mean usually when I see summaries that say 'story is better than it sounds' or 'summary sux but story is much better' I usually won't read it = =. So, I'm not gonna do that... I hope my chappie's aren't boring. I can already tell that there are gonna be at least 10 more chappies before the Byakuya-sama starts getting involved with Michiko. yeah... so its gonna be long. PWEASE REVIEW!

PS. lemme clarify something. Michiko's birthday is in December a week before Christmas/before the date of her parents' death. Now, she is 15 years of age and so 10 years ago, she would be around 4 or 5. So, sometimes I say 4 and sometimes I say 5. Gosh. I think I'm not that well informed about the details of my own story O_o


	6. Changes

Author's note: I'm fast aren't I? I wrote this in like 4 hours. Wait, thats actually slow. Anyway! I hope you enjoy this! Thankyou to all my dear reviewers (ahem!ahem!) for reviewing. Oh, and thx a ton to Renji's Girl for nominating me for the OtakuOnlineStop's best fanfiction for Dec.! Wuv ya! Oh well enjoy! oh... and please (thousand cherries on top) review!

-

Changes

-

The Urahara Shoten was just as she remembered it to be… although the last time that she had been here, she hadn't recognized it as the Urahara Shoten.

_These few days… truly… has it only been 5 days since I…since Kuchiki-dono… since Ichigo…since I uncovered the secrets of my past…?_

The last time that she had stood here, in the very spot that she stood now… it had been 10 years ago. She remembered very clearly, the look of the small shop as Urahara Kisuke had invited her spiritual body in to sit for a bit of tea while he took her earth body and 'fixed' it.

_Perhaps it is fate… everything in my life… now all seems to revolve around the incident 10 years ago. _

"Why hello there, Shirakawa-san. What a fine day it is for you to come. Can I help you with anything?" There he was again, wearing his green and white striped hat, his baggy clothes, his sandals and waving his cane around in one hand while the other held a fan in front of his face.

She gave him a cold glare.

"Cut the crap," She dragged out the words dangerously, ignoring Tsukihana's reprimand in her head. Urahara's expression immediately changed to a slightly fearful one when he saw her dangerous look.

"Explain." She bit out, not really expecting him to understand her demand, but not knowing how to express herself either.

_I think I might be in denial about what happened the last few days… I mean… I can't even say 'I am a half Shinigami half Quincy' out loud…_She muttered in her mind.

_You got it wrong, mistress…_ there was a pause as her inner hollow cackled madly in her brain, the grating and evil sound making her shiver slightly.

_You're one third Shinigami, one third Quincy and one third hollow!_ The raucous laughter resounded in her brain again. Mentally snapping for the inner hollow to behave herself, Michiko thought again.

_Yeah, and if that hollow hadn't gotten rid of the human inside me 10 years ago… I would be one fourth Shinigami, one fourth Quincy, one fourth hollow and one fourth human._ She grimaced.

_I'm thinking that I was born to be a science experiment._

"So you found out huh, Shirakawa-san." Her eyes met his, narrowing slightly.

"I did not find out." She stated.

"I went looking for answers on my own. Do not say it as if I found out against my will." She glared. He regained his usual cheerful demeanor.

"Well, come in! Don't just stand there!" She kind of wished that she hadn't come to him of all people for answers.

_Why must I spend most of my time around complete idiots?_

* * *

Michiko sipped from a cup of green tea, courtesy of Tessai-san. She made up her mind to find his name in the Shirakawa library. He had a high reiatsu. Come to think of it, why hadn't she noticed it earlier?

Quickly spreading her senses throughout the city, she sensed at least 10 people with high spirit power. Shooting a quick look at the red haired boy and the black haired little girl, she narrowed her eyes suspiciously. They had spirit power… even if it was at minimum… but they weren't shinigami… they weren't even humans.

_Yoruichi-sensei!? _Suddenly within the reiatsus that she felt, she recognized one of them. Her head swiveled to look quickly at the black cat sitting in the corner.

_Yoruichi-sensei's reiatsu is coming from that cat?_ She didn't notice Urahara who was sitting across from her, sipping his tea and watching her reactions.

Michiko stood up, forgetting Urahara and the rest of her questions for the moment and walked over to the black cat, squatting down to the cat's eye level. The cat sat still, golden eyes looking at her calculatingly. The cat didn't move.

_If I talk to a cat, I'll look stupid. I never look stupid… and I'm not really sure if it's her…_

Michiko maneuvered herself, looking at the cat's head, tail and body… it looked like a cat.

_Well, only one way to find out!_

Blinking at the cat a few times, she contemplated her next move. She suddenly stopped blinking. Contemplating her next move was something that she only did when fighting Yoruichi-sensei.

_I'm getting déjà vu here… so it's gotta be her. No need to worry about hurting some harmless little kitty…she can probably dodge it anyway._

Lifting up her hand she smacked the black cat over its head. Urahara burst into laughter and collapsed onto the ground, rolling around with laughter. Michiko looked at the kitty in interest. It hadn't dodged her move… maybe it wasn't Yoruichi-sensei after all.

She blinked at the cat and the cat blinked at her. The cat's expressions slowly morphed into a 'that was so lame' look. In the background, Urahara was still laughing and Jinta and Ururu were looking on.

A vein popped in the cat's forehead.

"Shut up, Kisuke!" the black cat deftly leapt over Michiko's head and landed on Kisuke.

"Ow! Yow! Good kitty." Urahara sat up. Blood was seeping from 3 kitty claw scratches on his cheek.

It had a man's voice. Michiko blinked even more.

"As for you…" The black cat turned to look at her ominously. He looked like he wanted to kill for a while, but when Michiko only blinked at him, he sighed and sat down.

Suddenly arching his back, the cat growled. It was growing bigger. The legs were lengthening and he was still growing bigger. Slowly, the fur began to turn into a dark purple color and slowly shrank into the body. Skin appeared and finally, hands and feet morphed from cat paws. The new figure in the room stood up slowly, as nude as the day she was born.

_So it was Yoruichi-sensei afterall._

As Yoruichi left the room quickly to retrieve some clothes, Michiko turned back to Urahara and stood up, quickly kicking him to the floor.

"Have some manners and turn around when you see a naked girl!" She yelled at him, lifting him up by his collar and slamming a fist into his head.

"Hey, Michi-chan, long time no see. Welcome back." Yoruichi had appeared in the doorway, dressed in her training clothes and hair tied back in a long ponytail.

Smiling, Michiko jumped up to embrace her teacher.

"Ow…" Muttered Urahara from the floor

"Why did you hurt me, Michi-chan!? You never used to be so cold to me!" Tears were rushing out of his eyes.

"Who gave you permission to call me Michi-chan. Speak to me with the proper respect!" She ordered him.

"But Yoruichi calls you Michi-chan!"

"Yes, and that's why I hit you…" she muttered, giving him an evil look. The dark shadows under her eyes make Urahara shrink away.

"Since, Yoruichi-sensei hits you all the time, I get to hit you too." She smirked.

"I will hit you again if you call me Michi-chan, so be careful." She stood.

"And, you're turning into Isshin." She muttered before sitting down at the table and picking up her cup of tea.

* * *

"So you tweaked my body so that it would grow with the speed of a human." Michiko concluded.

"Mhm! I used my newest inventions for that! I must say that it was quite the success!" Urahara exclaimed, fanning himself. Michiko ignored him. She had learned to ignore his stupid comments in the past half hour.

_I am really starting to feel like a science experiment._

"That doesn't explain why my spirit body looks the same as my human body, or… gigai…" She stumbled slightly over the word, covering it up with a sip of green tea.

Urahara had very kindly (rudely) shoved the end of his cane through her body, thus cleanly pushing her soul out of her gigai.

_Gosh! That thing was dirty for Gosh sake! Who knows how many floors its touched and what places its been to!_

Now, Michiko sat at the table in her soul form. She had finally settled down after 10 minutes of inspecting herself, her black uniform and the sword that was strapped to her side.

"Well, this is just a theory, but I was thinking that since you haven't been out of your gigai for such a long time, your spirit body has kind of become accustomed to it, therefore shaping itself to fit the gigai." He said fanning himself with his paper fan.

"By that… you mean to say that if I had spent any more time in the gigai, I would have lost all my otherworldly attributes and become a human, a normal human with no spiritual powers." She asked nonchantly.

"Exactly! 100% correct, Michi-san-WHAM!" He was cut of by her fist.

"Listen here." Michiko said, towering darkly over his fallen body. "I make my own decisions for myself! Who are you to interfere with my life and make my decisions for me! If I had wanted to rid myself of my links to my parents, I would have told you to do so for me! I've had enough for you for today." She said, turning to Yoruichi.

"What happens now, Yoruichi-sensei?" She asked after a pause.

"Well, would you like to become my student again?" She asked. Michiko smiled nearly jumping with excitement.

"I would be honored, sensei."

* * *

Over the next few weeks, Michiko had a new schedule. Waking up at 5 sharp every morning, she first grabbed all her things for the day and left for the Urahara Shoten to train with Yoruichi-sensei and to work with Tsukihana.

She had released her shikai within the third day of training with Yoruichi-sensei. Urahara had said that it was to be expected as she had been in contact with her zanpakutou for 10 years. With her skill, he said, she had probably already been ready for shikai around 6 years ago, according to Urahara's calculations.

At 7 in the morning, Michiko would take a quick shower in the Shoten and eat a quick breakfast usually cooked by Tessai. Then, she would walk to school and get there at 8 in the morning. Classes started at 8:30 and attendance was taken at 8:10.

During recess and lunch, she would gulp down her food and quickly finish any homework that she might have. After school, she would run over with Ishida to the mansion to look in the library.

She had found a whole shelf of books on kido spells and special techniques. With Ishida's help, she made full use of the Shirakawa Mansion training grounds and decided to try using kido.

Unsurprisingly, she was an efficient learner and quickly learned the basics for casting kido spells. Granted, she still had a long way to go and many spells to learn, but she would work on that more after she felt that her skills in physical combat and swordsmanship were satisfactory.

Every day, she would practice kido until 7 in the evening and then head home to shower again and to finish any homework that she hadn't done yet before eating dinner quickly and heading to bed.

On Saturdays, she would sleep until noon before going to train with Yoruichi-sensei again.

It was only on Sundays that Michiko could devour more books about the Soul Society.

* * *

_It seems that my life will become interesting from now on._ Michiko mused to Tsukihana one night. Their relationship had become much closer than before. Michiko and Tsukihana conversed very regularly. Sometimes, the inner hollow would try to kick in, but was kicked out soon for making negative comments.

_Kuchiki Rukia has broken the laws. _Tsukihana spoke softly.

_It will not be long before this treachery is discovered in the Soul Society. They will come for her._ Michiko looked out the window. It had been nearly 2 months already. Michiko had learned up to the way of destruction # 45 and and was still working hard on her way of binding # 33. She had nearly mastered shunpo, always nearly catching Yoruichi-sensei before Yoruichi played a small trick and eluded her.

_You know, Tsukihana, I have a feeling that its not just going to be like that… something big is going to happen this time. Knowing Ichigo… he'll go after her. I have a feeling… that Urahara may have something to do with this…_ Tsukihana listened and Michiko felt her fidgeting in her inner world.

_Lately, everything that happens is big… try not to worry too much Michiko… now continue your work…_ Tsukihana was always able to calm her down.

Turning back her to her books, Michiko tried to concentrate, but her mind ended up wandering again.

-

*flashback*

Michiko had just finished putting on her training attire when the shoji door opened. Urahara entered, Jinta, Ururu and Tessai carrying in the unconscious bodies of Orihime and Sado-san behind him. She stared in shock.

"What happened to them?" She asked, as the two bodies were laid down on the floor. Urahara looked at her.

"They discovered their powers and tired out." He was smirking behind his fan again.

"They will be alright won't they?" She asked, slightly worried. He nodded and Michiko turned to go to the training grounds beneath the shop where Yoruichi-sensei waited.

It was half an hour later when they felt it. Michiko and Tsukihana stopped their sparring and turned to Yoruichi who was resting a bit off to the side. Michiko had succeeded in materialization and was working on her Bankai.

"Yoruichi-sensei… what is that?" Michiko asked when Yoruichi stood up and quickly walked towards the doorway.

"There has been a lot of hollow activity within the past half hour… I've noticed that … but what is _that_?" Yoruichi just turned and grinned.

"Come on! You can't miss this! Oh, and remember to subdue your reiatsu."

A menos grande. Definitely, if was not as powerful as she… but for Ishida and Ichigo, it was definitely much too powerful.

"The fool. He used the hollow bait didn't he?" She and Yoruichi-sensei watched from the top of the building.

Sometimes, it was just amazing to see humans milling around innocently, naively and be completely unaware of the _thing_ that could tear down the whole city within 5 mins. Flat.

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see that Inoue and Sado-san were watching too. Rukia in her gigai was bound with a binding spell, kneeling next to Urahara. Michiko subdued her reiatsu even further.

_Its all changed… everything's… changed… this world is… not what it appears to be… never has been so…_

*end flashback*

-

She had soundly scolded Ishida about the hollow bait afterwards. As his lady, he had to listen to her… but she could tell that he didn't really want to. So, she sighed and dismissed him… at which he became alarmed and began apologizing repeatedly.

She had been so close to achieving Bankai a few weeks ago too…

-

*flashback*

Tsukihana raised her slender sword, meeting Michiko's, the sound of steel against steel reverberating throughout the area. Michiko pushed up and flipped the swords over, the metals cutting the ground.

Disengaging, Tsukihana jumped back, only to leap at her gracefully again, a flurry of white silk, ice shooting out from her hand.

That was right. Tsukihana was an elemental zanpakutou. She was made of ice, lightning and wind. Of course, ice gave her domain over water as well.

Michiko leapt out of the way to slash at Tsukihana's side. Tsukihana gracefully bent to the side, avoiding her slash narrowly, but getting a piece of white silk cut off in the process.

Michiko was close to growling in frustration. She had tried everything against Tsukihana: kido, physical combat…. Everything.

Yet, Tsukihana seemed to be able to read her moves accurately.

"You are nearly there, Michiko-sama." Her silvery voice calmed her slightly.

"Now, we must stop." Michiko looked up in surprise at these words.

"Stop? Why?" She asked.

"I am not denying you your Bankai. However, in the process of gaining a Bankai, at the very point where you succeed, a huge mass of spirit particles are needed. Michiko, if you try to gain your Bankai here, you will surely die. The spirit particles would be taken not from your surroundings, but from your body and you will perish." Tsukihana said.

"We must wait until we have a chance to gain it." Michiko nodded, knowing what Tsukihana was implying.

*end flashback*

-

A huge spirit pressure suddenly appeared near to the Kurosaki house hold and Michiko immediately subdued hers, running towards the window. Two silhouettes were outlined in the light of the moon, standing on a pole, looking at the Kurosaki house.

Michiko quickly looked down to see Rukia sneeking out of the house in her gigai and running down the lane. Michiko's head snapped back up.

_Shinigami! Two of them! They are both of high ranking!_

Michiko's eyes widened at the familiar reiatsu.

_Kuchiki Byakuya-sama! Sixth squad captain! Abarai Renji! Sixth squad vice captain! _Michiko had to strain her ears to catch the words uttered next.

"Kuchiki Rukia… we found you…" Abari Renji stated, dragging out the syllables. Michiko's hands tightened on the window sill. At that moment, Kuchiki Byakuya turned and looked right at her.

Their gazes met, and Michiko froze.

_Control yourself, Michiko-sama… make sure your reiatsu isn't leaking out! If it is, they will kill you regardless of what you say. They already know that Rukia-sama has committed felony. They will kill anyone who is a shingami, other than those of the Gotei 13. _Tsukihana sharply ordered.

_Michiko-sama… they will not recognize you after such a long time… you are admiring the moon right now…_Tsukihana sighed and spoke in a soothing voice. Michiko complied and tried to act ignorant of the two powerful beings outside her home.

"Its full moon tonight." She spoke both for Tsukihana and for herself. Kuchiki Byakuya held her gaze for a while more before turning away. Michiko continued to stare at them… err the moon.

_I must be patient and not worry… not act rashly… not be found out… the time will come when I can show myself. Now, is not the time._

Michiko watched as the shinigami leapt from pole to pole, chasing after Rukia. Getting out of her body, she hid it under the bed and stepped out of the window lightly, completely camouflaged into the night and walked slowly, following them.

-

Author's note: So, Michi-chan sees Byakuya-sama for the first time! Many things have changed and time rushes by quickly! If you noticed that I didn't show Michiko's zanpakutou release here, thats because I'm saving it for something special. Actually I've underestimated myself. I thought that there would be like a zillion more chappies before Byakuya-sama and Michiko actually meet and talk to each other and wteva... but it might be in like only 3-5 chapters. Pls review! I hope you don't think that this chappie has been rushed!

-


	7. Heartless Mercy

Author's note: Kay... spare me everyone... I'm soooo exhausted... spent like at least 8 hours on this chappie... = =... but thx for all the reviews! ^ ^ they really made me happy! ok! Without any further delay... allow me to present to you... the 7th chapter of 'To Follow her Fate'... oh yeah... just think of this as a christmas present from me to you all! Merry Christmas everyone! ^ ^

-

Heartless Mercy

-

Stealth was not something that one had to learn, Michiko decided as she walked silently down the lane. With the black cloak that she had decided to bring along, simply walking casually along the road was already sufficient for hiding herself.

Her footsteps made no sound as they moved lightly along the concrete ground. Knowing that she couldn't leap through the skies without being found out, she had opted for walking on the ground while following the two shinigami who were flying across the skies.

She slowed her footsteps further. Rukia was in a gigai. Without her shinigami powers, the two figures in the sky need not put much effort in chasing her. They moved at a leisurely pace. Michiko stopped in her tracks, turning away from the shinigami to go down a deserted alley.

It was impossible for her to continue following them without being found out. After turning a few more corners, she was still a few roads away from Rukia's position, so, she sat down in the branches of the tree to conceal herself.

Reaching out around her, she truly understood what Tsukihana had meant when she had stopped her from gaining Bankai. The spirit particles in the Real World were at minimum. Taking a deep breath, she slowly shaped her reiatsu into the shape of the particles that she felt around her, letting herself blend into her surroundings completely, before casting an extra barrier to conceal herself just in case.

Just as she had predicted, Rukia soon turned the corner, and was heading towards the tree that she was in. She watched as Rukia passed by the road below the fence that was in front of the tree that she was in. Looking up from the tree, she saw the two shinigami closing in. Putting more strength into the barrier, she waited to hear their verdict.

"YES! You _do_ get it!" A figure had flown over her head to land on a pole at the side of the road. Abarai Renji crouched on the pole, sword half drawn, with a smirk on his face.

Rukia turned in shock.

"Well, to put it in another way… Since you've stayed on this side so long, basically, you get to live just a bit longer…Rukia!"

_Death! The verdict… is death!_

Michiko's eyes widened in shock and sudden fear for her friend's life as Abarai leapt off the pole straight at Rukia, sword raised over his head and she instinctively shifted into a crouch on the branch, hand on Tsukihana's hilt.

_Michiko-sama! Restrain yourself! You cannot let these dogs of Soul Society discover your existence! You will not be accepted into their world, be deemed as a threat because of your inner hollow and sentenced to death! Not to mention, you're an _unauthorized shinigami_! They might just kill you upon sight!_ Tsukihana snapped at her; But even through the disguise of her anger, Michiko could tell the fear in Tsukihana's voice.

_Michiko-sama… you are not powerful enough as of now… one day… when a common enemy rises, perhaps, then, Soul Society would be willing to form alliances with you._ Sensing, Michiko's distress, Tsukihana soothed her.

Rukia instinctively jumped backwards, Renji's swipe narrowly missing her head by millimeters, the area resonating with the sudden explosion of reiatsu. Michiko's nails dug into her palms as she tightened her fists.

"You had a pursuer from Soul Society closing in on you… and you didn't realize it until I spoke? I don't care that you've been in a faux body for these past two or three months… you've gotten way too soft." Renji spoke with a slightly demoting tone to his voice as he slung his zanpakutou over his shoulder.

"Spit it out, Rukia. Where is he?" Renji demanded of her. Michiko's eyes widened as she heard him.

_Ichigo! He's so rash! He will definitely come to find Rukia… he will… be killed!_

_No, he will not Michiko-sama… that is why you are here. With any luck… Ichigo-sama will not have died yet by the time these shinigami leave… we should take him to Urahara-sama. Tessai-sama will know what to do._

"You're _Kuchiki _Freakin' _Rukia_, Damn it! There's no way that its right for you to wear that human expression on your face! Ne, Kuchiki-taicho?" Renji pushed on, slightly sneering, and suddenly, Michiko became aware of a figure that stood directly below her tree. He had moved there without her even noticing.

_Too… close…_ Michiko tensed even further.

_Don't move!_ Tsukihana snarled, stilling her. The two watched on in silence as Abarai attacked her yet again. Kuchiki Byakuya had not even blinked as his sister was attacked right in front of him. Michiko's fist clenched and she raised it, wondering exactly what would happen if she punched him.

"The transfer of shinigami powers to a human is felony, ya know? Leaving the execution to us instead of the Correction Corps was probably the Brass' version of kindness." Renji moved to where Rukia had fallen on the ground and raised his sword close to her neck.

"Now, spill the location, Rukia." He demanded harshly.

"We're here… to capture you… and to kill the guy who took your powers. Don't protect him." Renji moved into another stance as Rukia stood and backed away.

"You realize it don't you? You didn't dodge my first two attacks… I let you dodge them… and the next one… will kill you." Renji raised his zanpakutou again, crouching with one hand on the floor as he sized up his opponent.

Rukia moved back and Renji advanced…_Much like a lion stalking its prey…_ Michiko mused.

_Michiko-sama…!_ Tsukihana snarled again. Michiko immediately sighed as she watched Renji swipe. Rukia jumped, dodging his attack and flying over his head. Renji smirked, immediately swinging around to slash at her once more. Caught off balance, Rukia was flung down the sidewalk, rolling a few meters down.

…And her brother… Kuchiki Byakuya… looked on impassively. Suddenly, a blue bolt of light flew at Renji and he dodged.

"Two men with weapons attacking an unarmed girl… not a very pleasant thing to see." A new voice rang out in the night. Michiko's head snapped to the source.

"I don't really like that sort of thing." The figure said, stopping a ways away from Rukia and Renji.

_Ishida… what the crap is he doing here…that fool…He's going to get himself killed…_ _He couldn't have followed my reiatsu… I hid it… _

"You can see us… who the hell are you?" Renji snarled. Ishida adjusted his glasses.

"Just a classmate." He replied coolly.

"_Classmate?"_ Renji repeated the term as if slightly unfamiliar with it.

"…One that hates Death gods, that is…" Ishida continued to say.

_Oh, gods… Ishida… you're going to get yourself killed…_ Michiko groaned into her brain.

"Ishida? Why are you here?" Rukia's inquisitive voice asked.

"Just a coincidence." He replied quickly.

"Its nothing for you to worry about. If you must know…" Ishida lifted up the white eco-friendly bag that he held in his hand.

"I suddenly wanted to go to this 24-hours-a-day seamster shop chain, Sunflower sewing… and was simply wandering around the neighborhood in the middle of the night." He continued.

_Oh, heavens have mercy… what is he trying to do… he'll really kill himself…_Michiko closed her eyes.

Ishida readjusted his glasses and continued on,

"Its not like I took off because I was concerned when I sensed Death god energy and brought this bag from home just for an excuse to be outside…" He said.

There was a moment of stillness as everyone in the area tried to comprehend what he said. Michiko opened her eyes and turned to look at him through her barrier of concealment. She blinked.

_Well… that was… unexpected… I mean… I never knew that he was mentally challenged…_ Judging from the look on Rukia's face… she was having similar thoughts.

Michiko continued to watch as Renji proceded to attack Ishida and cut his arm, slicing his bag in half in the process. She breathed a sigh of relief as Rukia tried to intercede, but nearly cried out in fear as Ishida open goaded Renji again.

"Ishida Uryuu. Pleasure to meet you." He said after a brief pause.

"Eh? What's with you all of a sudden?" Renji muttered. Ishida readjusted his glasses again.

"It's nothing. I just thought that even a Death god would want to know… the name of the man who defeated him." Ishida taunted. Michiko bit her lip as a maniacal grin appeared on Renji's face.

"That's it! I'll kill you!" He growled. The veins in his neck and forehead throbbed in anger as his hand grasped his zanpakutou tightly.

_Curse him! Damn the fool! Why can't he understand that he'll die and just back off! IhatehimIhatehimIhatehim!_ Michiko screamed in frustration at Tsukihana.

_Michiko-sama, calm down before your reiatsu begins to flare._ She didn't even bother to scold her wielder for improper language, knowing that it would only contribute to her frustration.

The fight didn't last long. Michiko had already resigned herself to Ishida's death and the pain of loosing yet another close one. She closed her eyes as Renji prepared to deal the final blow.

Suddenly a new reiatsu flared.

_Oh Kamis have mercy… its all over. The other fool has given himself out… oh kami-sama…! _

"Who the hell're you!" Renji demanded as he skid back to land on the fence at the side of the road.

"Kurosaki Ichigo. The man who's gonna take you down." The stupidity of all this…

"Death god clothes? Which squad are you with? What the hell is up with the huge soul slayer?" Renji asked.

_Oh kami… here it comes… he's such a fool… he's gonna give himself away… totally…_

"What?" The dumb look on his face was really getting old.

"So this is big then, huh? I thought it was pretty big compared to Rukia's."

_Rule no.1: Never let your enemies find out about your ignorance in any area…_Michiko muttered in her brain._ Broken… and it's all out and we'll all die… and it'll be the end of the world._

"Anyway, till now, I haven't had anyone to compare with." Michiko propped an elbow up on her knee and massaged her forehead.

_Totally… ignorance of skills when faced with an enemy… gosh does he not even know the most basic things? It's like walking up to a bandit's face in the middle of a deserted alley and saying 'oh, hey! I have a million bucks on me!'_

Michiko sighed as Ichigo quickly received his first wound in the shoulder. This was completely hopeless.

Rukia was about to run to Ichigo, but was stopped by Ishida.

_Well, at least they haven't killed him…hopefully they'll forget about him…_

"…You'll die… and the powers will go back to Rukia. Then, Rukia will die in the Soul Society." There it was again. A sure and positive sentence to the death…

_It doesn't really make sense._ Michiko thought as she watched the two battle.

_Rukia-dono is a noble… yes… she is … and nobles are the ones who must set a good example to others… but the only crime that she has committed is only a simple crime of felony… they can easily rid Ichigo of his powers without killing him and erase his memories._ Michiko frowned.

"You relaxed too much, Renji." Kuchiki Byakuya stated calmly. Renji turned.

"Kuchiki Taicho!"

"That child, 'Kurosaki Ichigo'… I thought that I had seen his face before. The other day, we had a report from the Secret Mobile Corps… that he inflicted a sword wound on a Menos Grande… and sent it back to Hueco Mundo." The noble continued to speak.

_That's right. Ichigo is an unauthorized shinigami… like I am… especially since Ishida used the bait and caused a lot of havoc and abnormal hollow activity… thus resulting in a rare appearance of a Menos Grande… Soul Society must have noticed…_ Michiko bit her lip. Renji burst into laughter.

"I can't take it." He blatantly stated after his outburst of laughter ended.

"The quality of the S.M.C.'s been sliding lately." He pointed at Ichigo.

"_This kid_… wounded a _Menos Grande_?" He asked incredulously. Michiko groaned internally again, seeing Ichigo's annoyed look. Ichigo was probably going to get riled up over it…

"I couldn't believe that story even if I wanted to! I mean, just look, Captain! His zanpakutou… its huge… but otherwise, it's a total disgrace! Its obvious that he can't control is reiatsu. What's your zanpakutou's name?" Renji ranted. The aristocrat behind him looked on calmly, keeping on his emotionless mask throughout it all.

"Huh? Name?" Ichigo replied dumbly. Michiko sighed.

_There he is again… going on and on and on… letting others know that he actually knows nothing at all… his weakness… he probably can't make himself look more stupid than now…_

"Did you even ask?" Renji's tone was degrading.

"You mean, ask Rukia?" Ichigo continued.

_I take that back… he's sounding even worse right now… I wonder if he's worth keeping alive…_ Michiko continued._ Even if he lives through this…I might kill him myself… I refuse to be acquainted with such an idiot. See, there's a reason why I tell you not to call him Ichigo-_SAMA. Tsukihana gave a light chuckle at this.

_Don't relax too much, Michiko-sama… they might sense you._ She said to her weilder.

"You name every one of these things?" Ichigo asked incredulously.

_Kami-sama… he really was BORN stupid… I really feel sorry for his zanpakutou…_ Michiko muttered to Tsukihana as Renji gloated victoriously and Kuchiki Byakuya stood silently behind them. Michiko watched as Renji quickly released Zabimaru and dealt a harsh blow to Ichigo's shoulder and continued to thing.

_Rukia-dono's punishment should not be death. It is too harsh… Rukia-dono is not even of captain class… if a captain is the one who breaks the rules… they must be punished… of course… they are the examples to all shinigami… but Rukia-dono is… an unseated member…Death? _Michiko was brought out of her thoughts by an enormous reiatsu. She looked up in shock, straining herself slightly as Ichigo's reiatsu threatened to tear down her barrier.

_Just like with the Menos Grande… Ichigo's true strength… and of course… the emotionless bastard isn't surprised at all… again…_ Michiko noted, casting a glance at Kuchiki Byakuya. Tsukihana muttered something about respect and Michiko ignored her, turning back to the fight.

Ichigo stood with a self-satisfied grin on his face as he threw Renji off balance.

"What's wrong? Your movements have gotten hella slow all of a sudden!" Ichigo taunted.

"I dunno what this is… but it feels _good_! Right now, my wounds don't hurt… and I'm not even a tiny bit worried about losing to you!" Michiko had had enough of him.

_Doesn't he even understand the word 'subtle'?_

_Michiko-sama…_ Tsukihana whispered.

_Hn?_

_You're getting that black atmosphere about you again… like the time when you found out that Ishida ranked first in the finals of the year… and like whenever you get pissed…_

_Whatever…_ Michiko muttered as she strengthened her barrier while crossing her arms with her back straight and sitting Indian style. A chilling expression came over her face as she continued to watch.

"You're good at scurrying around like a rat aren't you?" Ichigo smirked.

"But that's enough of that." His spirit pressure sky-rocketed. He leapt at Renji to deliver the final blow.

It was all a blur. She could not see clearly when _he_ took one step of shunpo towards Ichigo and snapped his zanpakutou in half before taking another step back to where he was standing before.

_Indeed… if I cannot see clearly this man's movements, then… I still have a long way to go before I can catch up to Yoruichi-sensei. I still have a long way to go before I can avenge my family's death. It is easy to follow Kuchiki-sama's movements… but the movements are not clear… it is blurred… like a car when it whizzes by you… you can see it easily… but not very clearly… you will not be able to match it's speed._

_It is the same with fighting… if you cannot follow your opponent's moves clearly… then they will surely best you… and you will be defeated._ Michiko's eyes softened as she looked at Ichigo.

He… probably didn't even know what had happened… even as he looked across the street to where Kuchiki Byakuya was standing with his broken blade… he probably did not understand.

Kuchiki Byakuya lifted the metal and dropped it, letting it fall unceremoniously onto the ground. He then, slowly grasped the hilt of his own zanpakutou.

_Senbonzakura… Ichigo will die…surely…_ Michiko remembered his zanpakutou's name from one of the books that she had read… Kuchiki Byakuya… he was one of the most powerful captains… excluding the Soutaicho.

Michiko saw the blur of his shunpo again as he drew his sword quickly to plunge it into Ichigo's chest and turned to stab him once more. She saw the shocked and uncomprehending expression on Ichigo's face as she pitched forward. Fear for her foster brother's life sudden froze her body.

_No kidding… they really are gonna kill him…_

_What… you realized that just now…?_ Came Tsukihana's sarcastic reply.

_Well, when I followed them… I really had no idea… I mean I knew that they would… but I never really thought about it…_

_What is there to think about? You really are slow some of the time…_ The retort stung a bit.

"How slow… even in defeat." Kuchiki Byakuya's voice rang out coldly. Suddenly, Michiko hated him… for being such a cold unfeeling person… He was despicable.

"Byakuya-nii-sama!" Rukia's eyes were filled with what was undoubtedly fear as she cried out. Her brother turned to look at her.

Michiko cast her gaze on Abarai. He looked… astonished.

_Souka… the gap between the captain and the lieutenant… is this great… at least… I am more powerful than he… it is a great consolation._ She smiled bitterly.

"Ichigo!" All heads turned to Rukia as she jump over the fence and ran across the road, trying to reach Ichigo.

"Ichigo!"

"Forget it!" Renji muttered as he jumped up, Zabimaru in hand and ran at Rukia, grabbing her neck and pushing her against a sign post.

"Let me go, Renji! Ichigo's-" She was cut off by Renji who growled.

"What the hell are you talking about?! Look closer!" He snarled.

"The brat's dead!" Michiko watched as Rukia's expression changed into one of shock and hopelessness.

"Don't you get it? Just touching him right now will add another 20 years to your sentence!" Renji continued on relentlessly.

"What the hell reason is there, to worsen your crimes for a dead guy!" Rukia looked down, ashamed.

"I…involved Ichigo…It's MY fault that he's dead! What's wrong with me running to him?" Rukia shouted, nearly crying.

"Even though your crimes may worsen… You cannot bear not to go to him?... To this child's side?" Kuchiki Byakuya asked.

"Nii-sama…"

"I understand Rukia. I see." Even from across the road, Michiko could clearly see his cold eyes, boring into Rukia.

"The child does closely resemble _him_." Michiko had no idea what he was talking about, but she could see the obvious pain that they brought Rukia. Then, Ichigo grabbed the pant leg of his hakamas.

"'He's dead.' 'He closely resembles that guy.'" Ichigo's smirk was in place even though his voice was laced with pain.

"Don't be moving the conversation ahead of me!" Kuchiki Byakuya's eyes narrowed.

"Let go." It was an order, a calm one, even though one could hear the underlying threat in his tone. Michiko hoped that her foster brother was smart enough to leave it as it is.

"I can't hear you. Look at me when you talk." Well actually, his snarky tone and his snarky self was a rather expected comeback. He really had been born stupid. It was not as if Michiko could hope that for once he would think.

"Oh? I can see that you don't much want to keep that arm." He really was a fool who didn't the limits. He was definitely pushing it.

"Filthy human!" Rukia thrown Renji off to run and kick Ichigo's hand off of her brother's hakamas.

"How dare a filthy human seize Nii-sama's leg!" She continued.

"Know your place boy!" She raised her voice. She turned back.

"Let us go, Nii-sama. Kuchiki Rukia's eyes have been opened by this human's action. Please, take me to Soul Society. I shall humbly atone for my crimes."

_Rukia is trying… to save him. She …must really love Ichi-nii…_ Michiko thought as Ichigo protested loudly and was kicked by Renji.

"I doubt we will have to trouble ourselves with dealing the final blow. If we leave him so, he will eventually breathe his last. Let us go, Nii-sama." The noble looked at his sister over his shoulder as she walked to stand behind him. Ichigo tried to get up.

"Wait, Rukia! What kind of joke is this?! Look at me dammit!"

"DON'T MOVE!" Rukia shouted.

"You just try moving one step, just try coming after me! I… I will NOT forgive you!" Rukia turned, her eyes brimming with tears.

"Eventually you will die! So lay there, and live as long as you will!"

"Very well." Kuchiki Byakuya released the hilt of his zanpakutou.

"I shall not finish him." Michiko was suddenly thankful towards the stoic man who appeared uncaring, but would allow his sister the slightest bit of mercy…

"With my two attacks, I have completely shattered the soul's two fatal areas: The Chain Link and The Soul Sleep. That boy will probably die under one hour. Even if he lives, he won't have a shred of spirit power left within him, let alone Death god powers." The noble barely spared the dying boy one last glance.

"Renji."

"Yes, sir." Abarai got up and lifted his zanpakutou, stabbing it's released form into the air, he cried out,

"Unlock!" A shouji door began to appear and open in front of them and 3 black butterflies flew out.

_They're going back… Ichigo must have luck…or good karma or something._

Abarai walked into the senkai gate, followed by Kuchiki Byakuya. Suddenly, the noble stopped to turn and look across the road at her. She froze. He looked directly at her for a few moments before turning to go into the gate. She gave a sigh of relief.

_I think he saw me… but I don't think he'll tell, ne Tsukihana?_ The spirit muttered. Quickly taking down the barrier, Michiko grabbed Ishida and somersaulted across the road to land next to Ichigo.

"Rukia-dono." Rukia turned.

"Shirakawa-dono!" She gave a shocked look before bowing in return.

"Have no worries and return to accept your sentence with not a heavy heart. I believe that I will be able to take care of Ichigo." She knelt to examine the unconscious body of her foster brother. Rukia nodded, tears overflowing as she bowed in gratitude.

"Go now, we wouldn't want to risk Kuchiki-sama's wrath, ne?" She stood again and Rukia turned and walked into the gate, sparing the 3 people one last glance before she disappeared from their world.

Michiko looked down at her foster brother's body, examining the two sword wounds and flinching.

_Mou… what to do… can't take them to the clinic… oh well… guess they'll go to Urahara's for the time being._ Easily shouldering the two teenage boys, she leapt across the street again, shunpo-ing to the Urahara Shoten.

* * *

"I'm really fine! Take care of Kurosaki. If anyone can save Kuchiki-san, it's him" Ishida said to Urahara while preparing to leave, trying to escape his lady's death glare which promised death once he was healed.

They sat in one of the rooms in the Urahara Shoten. Urahara calmly sipped tea while Yoruichi wrapped Ichigo's wounds after Tessai had fixed them. Michiko sat Indian style in the corner of the room

"Kuchiki Byakuya-sama." she suddenly spoke. All heads turned to her.

"He is not Rukia's blood brother." Yoruichi gave her a cat like grin.

"So you've met him, Michi-chan. He is very handsome, ne? Did he spark your interest?" Michiko's expression didn't even change one bit.

"Why should I be interested in _him_ of all people?" She retorted without even blushing.

"Awwwwww! You're no fun, Michi-chan." Yoruichi teased as she turned back to Ichigo.

"He would not even blink although his lieutenant was about to kill his sister only inches away from him, yet he would spare Ichigo just to keep her from the pain of seeing him die. He is heartless and yet can show mercy." No one replied to this and there was silence until Yoruichi confirmed that Ichigo was stable and Michiko left for the clinic once more.

"You won't stay until he wakes?" Urahara asked. She glared at him, annoyed at the fact that he had been smirking behind his fan the whole night.

"When Ichigo wakes, he will decided to go to the Soul Society. If I let him see me in my shinigami form, he will not let me go no matter what. But if I come here at the last moment, then he can have no say, ne?"

Her face broke out into a childish smile and her eyes closed into slits as she laughed.

Urahara blanched and jumped back. She was even scarier when she smiled.

* * *

Michiko lay in bed, unable to sleep. It had really been a long night. Dawn was already breaking. Michiko glanced at her clock.

It was 5 am. She still had one last day of school in 3 hours.

_I suppose I'll take a break from training today and sleep it all off. Two and a half hours till I need to get up…_

_Thinking about something? ... Perhaps about somebody?_ Tsukihana teased.

_I have no idea what you are talking about._ Michiko retorted.

_Then I shall give you a hint then… Kuchiki Byakuya-sama, ne? He is very handsome, ne?_ Michiko rolled her eyes.

_I will admit that he _is_ rather good looking, but someone of his character would never attract my attentions._ She stated. Tsukihana whined.

_You really are no fun at all! Can't you at least give me a blush?_ Michiko rolled her eyes and shut her out, turning over to the side, she smile softly before closing her deep blue eyes.

_He really is handsome though… very handsome…_ She drifted off to sleep, ignoring Tsukihana's giggles.

-

Author's note: oh yeah... I forgot to apologise for not updating for so long... see I needed the lines for the little thing btween Renji, Ichigo and Byakuya... so I was watching ep 16 for them... but I got caught up and just continued rewatching and forgot to do the writing O_o... ^ ^... on the other hand... Michiko thought he was handsome!!!!!! Actually that's what I first thought when I saw him too... I was like gosh I hate him he's so cold... but then again he's hot... ^ ^.... I'll try to update soon... once more before my exams start in Jan. maybe = =... gosh I hate them...

PS. Does anyone download the bleach eps. or do they watch on youtube or veoh or wteva? Could you guys let me know like maybe in a review or something ^ ^ ... ahem ahem... review... ^ ^... or your can pm me... but review seems much faster right ^ ^ (gosh I needta stop using the slit-eyed smile thingy)


	8. I Might Not be Returning Here

Author's note: Ok, my dear readers... I am SO sorry for not updating. I mean I had exams before and I know I promised you guys that this chapter would be on between Jan. 14-17.. but by my calendar... I am... 1 day late... I mean... I had this really horrible flu... I still have this horrible cough right now... so yeah... I got sick the day after the exams ended... so... yeah... sorry about the long wait! Anyway... please enjoy! And review!

-

I Might Not be Returning Here

-

"Michiko-sama. You must draw the arrow _straight_. It must be level with your shoulder." Ishida said smugly, adjusting his glasses.

_Curse him… the moron doesn't hafta act so smug!_

"Quincies do not shoot arrows. They release them. When you release an arrow, you release it from your heart, with your Quincy's pride." Ishida lectured on, seemingly very pleased with himself.

Since the day that Rukia had been taken back to the Soul Society, Michiko decided to focus on a skill that she had been neglecting all along. She hadn't planned for Ishida to come and instruct her, she hadn't planned for him to find out about her training anyway.

But the bastard seemed to have known. Granted, she was thankful for the help, but really, he needn't be so smug about it. The relationship between the two of them had changed from hateful to something like 'friendly enemies'. While they were not nemesis', and Michiko was his 'mistress', they still competed and liked to prove that they were the 'better' between the two of them.

_Arghh…_

Michiko pivoted to face him on one knee, drawing the arrow back and taking aim, releasing a cloud of arrows towards him.

"I'll show you straight! Hya! Hya! Hya!" Ishida scrambled around the training grounds, avoiding her barrage of arrows.

"Michiko-sama! Straighten your arrows!" Ishida called from place somewhere in the midst of the shower of blue lights, still leaping around.

Michiko growled as she lowered her arm, huffing slightly from the strain of the practice. Straightening, she pivoted to face the targets on the practice field. Standing straight, she drew an arrow and released, hitting the bulls eye, letting herself enjoy the look of shock on Ishida's face and matching it with a smirk. She ran her eyes over his disheveled form, satisfied with the damaged that she had dealt to his once-white clothes.

_That'll teach him to act like on of those old farts!_ She jeered in her mind, referring to the late Shirakawa elders.

Lowering her arm, she let her bow disperse and turned to leave.

"That will be it for today. Would you care for some refreshments, Ishida?" She didn't bother to wait for a response and left the grounds, not really caring if he followed her or not.

_In the end, Rukia-dono was taken back to the Soul Society._ Michiko looked down at the smoke rising from her hand that had been caused by the friction between her arrows and bow.

_Ichi-nii has decided to save her. I am glad that Rukia-dono asked nothing more of me… although… I am sure that I couldn't have promised her anything if she had requested me to keep Ichi-nii away… and I… have decided to accompany him…_ Michiko strolled down the halls of the Shirakawa Manor.

_But… I knew this already… that one day… I would have to face Soul Society once more, as a representative of the Shirakawa family… In fact… I knew that my fate was sealed, the second that I confronted Ishida that day… no… ever since I was killed 4 years ago._ Michiko stopped at the huge double doors leading to the library. She lifted her hand up and pushed them open.

_Everything in this world revolves around Soul Society and the decisions of Soul Society… and Soul Society… revolves around their king… the Spirit King… that Tatsuo-sama who allegedly betrayed the clan by sending assassins after me… that he too was killed on that night… he is not the one whom I must exact my revenge on… _Michiko walked towards a section of the library, hidden in the corner behind a barrier, and opened a hole in the barrier, stepping in.

_Because everything in this universe revolves around Soul Society… answers… lie there… the reiatsu on that night… that powerful, oppressive reiatsu… was undoubtedly the reiatsu of a shinigami…_ Michiko sat in a huge couch, surrounded by the notes on clan techniques that her ancestors had left her.

_This is why… I must go to the Soul Society with my brother… that is why we will all go with him… Sado-san… Orihime-chan… Ishida… and even I… to save Rukia-dono… yes… but at the same time… to find answers._ Outside… the sky grew dark as the sun began to set… but Michiko stayed in the library late into the night.

_It is also why I must train… become strong… gain power and perhaps finally… kill the man who killed my parents, who ruined my life with a few sweeps of his sword!_

* * *

10 days. It had been ten days since Kuchiki Rukia had been taken back to Soul Society.

This night was particularly dark. No stars twinkled in the skies and no moon shone to bright her path as she strolled slowly down the quiet road, carrying her human body on her back.

She focused on the ground, taking care not to trip on her long black cape. A hood was drawn over her head, hiding her face from view. Her cape wrapped around her body. To anyone who could see her, she seemed to be gliding along the floor.

Underneath her cape, her left hand fingered her shukusen.

_Tonight is the night that we will invade the Soul Society._ Pulling her left hand out from under her cape, she drew her shukusen open to look at the markings on its back. Turning it over, she gently traced the clan seal in the center.

_Right now, everything around me seems so surreal._ Stopping, she turned to look down the road. Building a platform of reiatsu above her, she stepped onto it and lifted herself into the air. The Karakura in the nighttime shone with neon lights.

_Everyone in this world is so at peace. Their ignorance of everything that is about to happen…I think I can understand why… Soul Society should be kept a secret from this world._ Michiko threw off her hood, holding her fan out in front of her. Speedily tracing the markings and symbols on the back of the fan, she waited until they glowed silver and then pushed a small amount of her reiatsu into it, watching as it stretched and pulled until the whole fan had tripled in size and hovered in front of her in the air.

Hopping onto her fan, she set her human body beside her and sped through the air, her fan gliding gracefully and carrying her towards the Urahara Shoten.

_I am about to travel into the afterlife… For some reason… I feel like I will never return here again._ She didn't look again at the scene of the night town as her fan dipped into a gentle spiral, gliding down to hover a meter above the ground in front of the Urahara Shoten. Grabbing her huge fan, she snapped it close and swiped sideways, resealing it to its original size and sliding it into the sash by her waist.

_I will leave it behind me… it is best not to look back… lest I have any regrets… lest I am tempted to stay._

Leaning down, she grabbed her human body and hoisted it up, stepping into the Urahara Shoten. It was nearly one in the morning, the appointed time was drawing near.

"Urahara!" She snapped. After a moment of crashing and loud yells, a sleepy looking Urahara stepped out.

"Just what are you thinking, still sleeping at this time!" She growled as he immediately snapped up straight and donned his white and green striped hat, grinning all the while, brandishing his cane. Michiko closed her eyes and tried to ignore his annoying character.

"Here. You are to keep my body until I return." She handed her body over to him.

"You are also warned to treat it properly. If I find that you do anything inappropriate to her, Tsukihana will shred you to pieces." She added a glare just to emphasize her point.

"Hello, Shirakawa-san." Michiko turned at the feminine voice. Her expression softened slightly.

"Orihime. Sado-san" She nodded at the large boy, spotting him by the wall.

"And Ishida." She greeted her ward remembering that he had been out for training for the past 8 or so days.

"Now all we have to do is wait for Kurosaki-san to get here." Urahara gave his signature goofy smile and waved his cane around.

"And it looks… as if he's just on time." They all turned and headed out the door, recognizing Ichigo's flaring reiatsu.

_He still has no control whatsoever._ Michiko muttered to Tsukihana.

"Ah, Kurosaki-san. You're right on time. Good, good." Urahara greeted Ichigo.

"Chad?! What are you doing here?" Ichigo looked kind of surprised.

"Kuchiki Rukia… saved me once. I'm going too." Chan informed him as calmly as ever.

"Huh?! Wait… what?!" He looked at a lost for words.

"What? Didn't they tell you?" A new voice entered the conversation.

"Ishida?!" Ichigo yelped.

_I think he's gonna get a stroke from the shock, Tsukihana._ Michiko muttered.

_I know… He's kinda slow isn't he? _Her zanpakutou agreed.

_What? You just noticed… Hey you're not calling him 'Ichigo-sama' anymore…_

"I can't let it end with me losing to those death gods. I'll go too." Ishida explained.

"Now, we're all here!" Shocked was definitely an understatement for Ichigo.

"Inoue?! Michiko?!" He was starting to get red in the face as he spotted the two girls standing next to each other.

"Pleased to be working with you!" Inoue bowed.

"Huh…What? Wai… Hold on! Michiko… you… you're SHINIGAMI?! What's going on?!" Ichigo shouted, looking around at the people gathered there.

"He's pretty slow isn't he?" Yoruichi trotted up to him in cat form.

_Oh! He'll really get a stroke now!_ Michiko looked on, slightly amused.

"Boy! You can't say that you haven't noticed the bubbling of power within these individuals." Yoruichi continued.

"While you were training to regain your death god powers, they were training on their own as well."

_Why in the world is she classifying me with THEM?!_ Michiko turned her nose up and let out an involuntary sniff of disgust.

_Michiko-sama, you've been acting strangely today… Is something wrong? _Tsukihana asked.

_…Iie… its nothing for you to worry about._

Ichigo blinked for a moment and then jumped back, clutching his head.

"A… A CAT TALKED!" He screamed.

_Typical response… boys… such inadaptable creatures._ She muttered to Tsukihana, standing off to a side, watching as a commotion stirred up about the talking cat until Urahara clapped his hands.

"Ok! It's not good to stand around talking outside… so let's just go inside first." Chad entered first, and Michiko made to follow in after Ishida.

"Michiko." She turned her head slightly to show that she was listening.

"You… you're…" Ichigo seemed slightly at a lost for words. She cut him off.

"I am not obligated to explain my decisions to you. Do not forget that I am not born of your mother." She spoke coldly and entered the Shoten, leaving him to pour all of his warnings on Inoue, not caring that her words might have hurt him and heading down the long flight of stairs and ladders and into the basement.

The first thing that she noticed in the spacious training grounds was the huge white gate.

_A Senkaimon…?_ She looked it up and down and the rest of the group made another huge commotion. Averting her gaze slightly, she noticed that Urahara had yet again used the end of his walking stick to push Ichigo's soul out of his body. Her eyes twitched ever so slightly as she refrained from rolling them.

_Senkai gate… hmmm… not only that… reishi exchangers? _She tested her senses and was glad to find that she was correct.

_Hmmm… Senkai gate… there's… a binding spell… and…_ She trailed off, scrutinizing the gate.

_Its different from an average shinigami's gate. Urahara-san makes it differently._ Tsukihana explained to her.

Michiko was about to respond when she was interrupted.

"The most that we can keep the gate open is… 4 minutes." Urahara announced with a cheerful face.

"What? Can we even make it in that time?" Ichigo asked incredulously.

"Well, this is an unreasonable endeavor to begin with." Urahara explained, tapping his walking stick on the ground.

"What can we do?!"

"Walk forward." Yoruichi's cat voice rang out clearly as she walked to the front of the group. Michiko stepped behind Ichigo.

"Remember, what matters is the state of your heart, the will to move forward. Can you do so? Only those who can do so will go with us."

"Quit your sleep talking, that's what we came here for!" Ichigo retorted.

"Then at the count of 3, all of you, leap in together!" Urahara ordered. Michiko reached up to pull down her hood.

"1…2…3!" The gate glowed brightly and opened and the 6 jumped in.

* * *

"What's going on? The walls are following us! The path we're running on is collapsing faster and faster!" Ishida yelled, voicing Michiko's thoughts.

"If you have the time to look back, move at a faster pace!" Yoruichi yelled.

"If you get stuck in the capturing flow, you're done for!" Yoruichi warned, beginning to sound panicked. Michiko's eyes widened ever so slightly at the dark walls that were closing in on them. With her agility, she easily caught up to run at her foster brother's side.

At that moment, the walls snagged Ishida's white cape and he was dragged back. Michiko's eyes widened and she gasped. Everyone stopped in their tracks and Ichigo grabbed Zangetsu.

"Wait! Don't use the Soul Slayer! The capturing flow arrests spirit entities." Yoruichi cried out.

"If you use the slayer, then you too will be ensnared!" They all stood there, not knowing what to do as Ishida was dragged farther away from them. Michiko straightened.

_It is just as well… we should make use of this chance that Ishida has given us through the sacrifice of his life… Look, the walls are drawing farther from us._ Michiko thought as she closed her eyes to commemorate the loss of a comrade.

_RIIIIIIIIIIIIPPPPP!_ Everyone gasped as Chad grabbed Ishida and ripped him away from his cape.

"Tha-" Ishida was cut off and Chad flung him over a shoulder and carried him while the group continued to run. Michiko growled slightly as she quickened her pace to run at the front of the group.

"Hey… you guys… something's…something's… coming." Ishida broke of in mid-rant about how he could run on his own. Michiko turned to see Yoruichi running at full speed next to her, beads of sweat froming on her brow.

Suddenly, a burst of yellow light appeared.

"What is THAT?!" Ishida yelled.

"It's the capturing thrust! It's a cleaner that appears once every 7 days! Why did it have to show up NOW?!" Yoruichi growled out between pants.

Everyone ran at top speed, but the capturing thrust drew even closer.

"That thing's frighteningly fast! Hurry, we're almost at the exit!" Yoruichi snarled.

"It's no good! We can't outrun it!" Ishida yelled out, panicking. At that moment, Orihime turned, lifting her hands to her hairclips.

"Hinagiku! Baigon! Lily! Sacred Tri-Link Shield! I Reject!" Michiko's head snapped back to see a large yellow shield form and push the shield to a slower pace. Beneath her hood, her eyes softened as she nearly smiled.

_Orihime-chan… Your powers are strong indeed…_She thought as they burst out of the tunnel.

Reacting quickly after noticing that they were in mid-air, She did a few spins to touch a roof before doing a somersault to land gracefully on one knee just as Ishida, Ichigo, Chad and Orihime landed in a messy pile right in front of her. Yoruichi appeared out of nowhere to land on all fours next to her.

Once again ignoring the ruckus that the pile stirred up, Michiko turned to look at the margin where the dusty ground became a neat and smooth marble-white floor and beyond that at the richly built Sereitei where Rukia was sure to be.

_And where Rukia is… there are surely answers to my past… the past of the Shirakawa family… the history of Quincies… and perhaps ultimately the reason for my parents' deaths!_ Michiko's fists tightened. An image of the stoic and cold 6th squad captain appeared in her mind and her eyes narrowed.

_Soul Society… is filled… with those kinds of people! Soul Society! You will pay for the deaths of my family!_

_-_

_Author's note: Ok! There it is! I hope you enjoyed it! Pls review... oh yeah... I had a question for you guys... see being a hardcore Byakuya-sama fan... I went and searched for his birthday... apparently... he was born on Jan. 31....n years ago... but then again... how come the websites have his birthday... and are they like making it up or what... and how did they find out... like where is the proof? Ok... if you guys gimme an answer... I might give you guys a Byakuya-sama birthday special... like .... some time... around his birthday maybe!_


	9. Impasse

Languages Notes:

Ok. Last update, I recieved a review telling me that it was 'Doozo yoroshiku' and that it meant 'Pleased to meet you'. Actually I only spelled it by the um pronunciation of the letters. Like the A, I, U, E, O, Ka, Ki, Ku, Ke, Ko...

Also, I asked my friend and she said that it didn't mean pleased to meet you. She said it meant to beg one's auspices in the future. Its like when the english people tell chinese people to 'hold your tongue' or 'break a leg' they won't understand what it means because it's like some sort of saying or whatever. When my friends ask me about those. I just say it means to shut up and good luck just so that I won't have to go into an in depth explanation of why it's said as hold your tongue and why it's called breaking a leg. I think that may also be why the japanese teachers tell us that it means 'pleased to meet you'. Cuz I asked my friend to write out 'Doozo yoroshiku' in japanese on a piece of paper and asked her what the exact words were in Chinese. She said it meant to 'beg one's auspices'. And then because I have the most sucky chinese in the whole class (on account of spending a few years in america and the whole rest of my elementary years in an international school before changing back to a local government chinese school) she said that it meant 'if I do things wrong or say things wrong, please correct me.' (crap translating is so hard. Chinese doesn't really even have grammar lolz)

Chinese and Japanese people have similar cultures and language. The sentence form is the same and kanji is actually chinese. While Japanese people use hirigana as well, Chinese people only use Kanji. I'm not sure if this is the way with the Japanese, but as a Chinese person, I can tell you that in Chinese, when you meet someone, you don't say 'pleased you meet you'. Even if you meet them for the first time, you say, 'Ni Hao', which means How are you. Literally, the two kanji letters mean 'you' and 'good'.

Chinese people these days, and I'm sure that the Japanese should be the same, aren't really as formal as before. In the time of confucious, when you meet someone for the first time, 'I beg your auspices' would be said. But now, we only say that sentence when we are on the stage doing a speech contest as a um more courteous beginning or end.

-

Chapter 9: Impasse

-

It had been days since they had infiltrated the Sereitei. Michiko sat in her barrier in the sky above the havoc below. At first, she had decided to do some scouting around first, but after certain incidents concerning the 'death' of a captain, she had decided to attract more attention to herself, and letting Ichigo and the others move around more easily.

Yes… the death of a captain. Originally, during her scouting, she had felt a pulse of familiar reiatsu and had set off to take a look.

-

_*flashback*_

Michiko stepped softly and silently around the corner, keeping close to the shadows by the wall, dressed in the punitive Shirakawa combat uniform, complete with a mask covering her face.

Although it was night now, she couldn't risk the chances of being caught by shunpo-ing herself through the air. That was the reason why she was creeping around in the dark, trying to find her way to the place where she felt the strong reiatsu.

Everything was too quiet. It was not possible that nobody had felt such strong reiatsu. Taking a deep and even breath, she closed her eyes and concentrated hard.

There were only weak sources of reiatsu close by. If she used shunpo, no one would notice her.

She had finally gained her Bankai after days of working in her barrier. Originally she had wanted to work on it in Rukongai, but Tsukihana had objected, claiming that it was for her own health.

Translation: I am too lazy right now and I couldn't care less about your Bankai.

Lifting one hand to latch onto the roof the building next to her, she deftly and smoothly pulled herself onto the roof, crouching silently. She tensed and then disappeared in a flash of shunpo.

_Guard yourself BEFORE we fall into the enemy's traps, Mistress! You fool!_ Startled by the hollow's screaming insults in her head, Michiko stopped in mid-shunpo, dropping silently onto a convenient roof and raising her he-

_Don't look RIGHT at the THING, STUPID!_

…Or not. She quickly dropped her half lifted head and reached into her black sash, slowly drawing out her fanged shukusen. Slowly lifting it in front of her face, she flipped it open and ran a small flow of her reiatsu through it. Quickly tracing the silver symbols on the fan with her pinky, she stared through the now see through shukusen and analyzed the 'thing' in front of her.

_The reiatsu… a sword… a zanpakutou… IT'S AN ILLUSION!? _Her heart raced at the gruesome image of the man impaled by his own zanpakutou on the wall. Hearing a small shuffle of feet on ground, she looked down at the living figure of the 'man' on the wall.

It was him. The man whom she had dreamed of killing for so many times… the owner of the reiatsu that would haunt her for forever.

Aizen Sousuke…_why is he doing this? He's a traitor amongst the shinigami?_

_Michiko-sama, let us retreat for now… it's dangerous… even for you with than shukusen…_

Giving a mental nod towards her zanpakutou, she took one last look at the man and turned away, tucking the shukusen back into her sash and flashing through the Seireitei away from the hideous scene on the wall.

_*end flashback*_

_-_

She knew that the 'death' of the 'wonderful' 5th squad captain caused havoc and confusion even within the ranks. She could sense spirit collisions all over, even among those who were supposed to work together to capture 'the ryoka'.

On the other hand, Michiko had done a lot of meditating in the past few days while in her barrier only stopping to consume her daily rations which she had received at Kuukaku's house and in the Rukongai.

Just a few hour's ago, Ichigo had crossed blades with Zaraki of the 11th. Now, not even half of a day later, he was already running off to the Shrine of Penitence to save Rukia again.

Ishida, Chad and Inoue had been capture already. But despite the fact that they were a few people short, Michiko couldn't help but be relieved that she only had to worry about Ichigo now. Despite the fact that Shiba Ganju was with them, she didn't really care about the oaf anyway. As long as he didn't die and she could return his barely alive body back to Kuukaku, she was satisfied.

Getting up from her position on the ground, she pulled a hood over her face once more. It was time to leave her sheltered haven.

* * *

The shinigami stationed outside the ice barrier, gasped and covered their face as the barrier exploded violently, sending bits of ice and water flying everywhere. They were only able to catch a small glimpse of the hooded figure within before they disappeared.

Rolling her eyes as Michiko heard the emergency bell sound again, she made to slip down to the floor and move among the buildings. It was harder to be spotted there. She grasped her hood, making sure that it would not fall off. However, before she could move more than 5 flash steps, a figure appeared in front of her.

_Shuuhei no onii-chan?! What is he doing there? That shinigami uniform… he's a vice captain? He was with the Seireitei the whole time?_

Hisagi drew his sword, looking coldly at her.

"Remove your hood and show your face, Ryoka." Hisagi gripped his sword tightly in front of him.

Michiko remained silent, not knowing what to say to the person that she thought of as a brother.

"I will not repeat myself again. Remove your hood, Ryoka."

The hooded figure in front of him slowly lifted her hand and pushed her hood back revealing a slim face and dark blue eyes as her hair tumbled out from its confines.

Hisagi's eyes widened in shock. The figure suddenly disappeared and reappeared behind him.

"Please… don't stop me… Shuuhei no nii-chan…" the figure spoke softly as she passed him.

Hisagi lowered his zanpakutou and turned to watch as the girl continued on her way, shunpo-ing from roof to roof, too quickly for his eyes to see.

_That was… Michiko-sama… why are you here?..._

* * *

_I shouldn't have been lazy. I should have went at top speed… Ichi-nii is in danger after all… but still…Shuuhei no nii-chan… do you remember me too?_ Michiko's face was soft as she thought of the man she called 'brother'.

Shaking her head to clear it of unwanted thoughts, she once again pulled her hood over her face.

_Focus…_

* * *

"Oh? Completely unaffected by this spirit force… it seems as if you have improved quite a bit." The 6th squad captain's reiatsu whipped around the area like wind during a storm.

"How you once more attained death god powers I do not know, but you would have done better to live on peacefully in the real world." He continued.

"Who would have thought that you would come again to throw away the life that you held on to…"

"I don't intend to throw it away." Ichigo cut in.

"I'm going to beat you and go home." He spoke in determination.

"I told you not to speak out of your league, boy!" Kuchiki Byakuya spoke coldly before disappearing from the perception of the human eye.

_What?! He disappeared?!_ Ichigo thought.

It all happened in a matter of seconds. All he knew was that he had been pushed to the side and there was a loud thud behind him. He looked up.

Michiko sped through the skies, drawing Tsukihana as she neared the white tower. She tensed as she sensed Kuchiki Byakuya's power burst out around her and quickened her pace. She neared the bridge just in time to hear Byakuya's last words and see him disappear in a flash of shunpo.

_Ichigo… can't see him!_

Diving forward, she pushed Ichigo out of the way before bringing up Tsukihana to meet Senbonzakura as Byakuya bore down on her.

Unable to overcome his superior physical strength, she was thrown back and her back slammed into the floor of the wooden bridge, with her sword only a few inches from her face, straining against her opponent's.

She bit back a scream from the pain that shot down her back as her hood fell off, revealing her face.

Kuchiki Byakuya disengaged as her hood fell off, glaring coldly at her. With the hood, he had not noticed, but obviously, she was a woman and also a woman of a high noble class, who carried herself regally, with an air of pride.

"Name yourself, ryoka." He lowered his sword as he questioned her. Eyes moving at an incredibly quick evaluating rate, she analyzed the situation. There was another captain behind her, watching on… as well as Shiba Ganju… lying on the floor spouting blood all over… Ichigo was kneeling on the ground where she had pushed him and all the others seemed to be uninjured.

Standing up, she ignored him and quickly shunpo-ed behind him to stand in front of Ichigo.

"Michi-" He started. She slapped him across the face.

"Fool!" She hissed in fury, her dark eyes boring into his.

"How is it that you can endanger us all, charging recklessly into battle, when you do not even know the power of the enemy! Rukia is a _CLASS ONE FELON_ it is doubtless that the security around her holding cell would be high. None of you have any tactic whatsoever." She growled. He looked up, shocked at her words.

"You must learn to think ahead. How do you expect to leave here? There are two captains here if you hadn't noticed."

Heaing a sound of a footstep behind her, she turned slightly to see Byakuya raised his sword again. She flinched inwardly. Her back was hurting something horrible. She was sure that a bruise was already forming.

Ichigo was already getting up behind her.

"Get out of the way idiot. You cannot even see his movements, how will you be able to match his fighting. You will only get in my way. Stand back."

_Yoruichi-sensei, get here quickly… I can't hold out for long… even with my bankai… I hate being a girl._

"You seem to be rather confident that you can defeat me. Who are you?" Byakuya said.

"Oh, my. I am most devastated that you do not remember me, Kuchiki-sama. We met 10 years ago at my sister's naming ceremony. I am Shirakawa Michiko. If he showed any sign of recognizing her, she didn't see, but she instinctively crouched, with he sword drawn back along her shoulder, fingers at the tip of Tsukihana, ready to release as he positioned Senbonzakura in front of his face.

"A Shirakawa. I do not know how you are here, but it will be made known that a member of the Shirakawa Clan has broke the treaty. You and your clan were banished long ago." Ignoring the gasps behind her as her history was being told, she gave him a cold smirk.

"Pity. Sereitei broke the treaty first. My clan was brutally slain 10 years ago, just half a year after my sister's naming ceremony. They were killed by one of your captains. My sister was killed as well and now, I am the only one left of the Shirakawa Clan."

"By one of our captains… That cannot be!" The captain behind them burst out as he watched on.

"No matter. Then, by my own hand, I shall destroy the rest of the Shirakawa Clan. Chire-" Michiko gasped and drew up her reiatsu as his sword glowed. A white strip of cloth suddenly wrapped around his sword and I figure appeared, crouching on the bridge. Michiko sighed in relief.

"You!"

"Long time no see… Byakuya-bo."

* * *

Michiko sighed and pouted in frustration as she lay on her stomach on a mat next to Yoruichi while they watched Ichigo fighting for bankai.

Her back had indeed been bruised. An angry black mark had spread all over her back and it was slightly swelling.

Stupid, stick-up-his-ass, egogistical, bastard! She repeated he list of insults in her head.

_…by my own hand… I shall destroy the rest of the Shirakawa Clan…_

She growled out loud, her hollow murmuring inside her mind. Yoruichi sweated as she felt her student's hollow reiatsu and turned to give her an uneasy smile.

_I HATE HIM! He will die!_ She thumped her legs onto the ground, ready to throw her millionth temper tantrum in 2 days.

"Can't you heal my back for me… pleeeeaaaassseeeee?" She pouted as she begged her teacher for the millionth time.

"Heal it yourself."

"I caaaaaaaaaaaaan't!"

"Michiko, this is another thing you have to learn. Use your hollow." Michiko blinked.

"I know that."

"Then do it."

"I can't." Yoruichi's eyebrow twitched.

"Why not?"

"It hurts and I can't reach around to heal myself."

"I didn't tell you to heal yourself. I told you to make your hollow heal you!"

"I know how to!"

"Then do it!"

"…How?" Yoruichi sighed.

"Learn to use materialization. Materialize your hollow." Yoruichi watched, calculatingly as her student did so easily.

_Michiko… you truly are something… accomplishing a feat that even Shinji-san and the others cannot do._

Michiko's hollow had never ever tried to take over her body or her mind. Unlike the other vizards, she had been able to form a bond with her hollow. Granted, it was a 'friendly enemies' sort of bond. But still… she treated her hollow like a zanpakutou…

Yoruichi could never tell anyone that Michiko had once accidentally used a cero, granted a small one, during a sparring with her. She had even done it without knowing. Yoruichi shuddered.

An explosion from above shocked everyone out of their thoughts. A red-headed figure leapt down to land in front of Ichigo and Zangetsu.

"Sneakin' around to do Bankai training eh? Don't worry, Zabimaru and I will be doing our own little thing over there, we won't bother you."

"Renji? What are you doing here?" Abarai's expression dimmed.

"You I will tell… we've run out of time."

"What?" Michiko scrambled up and shoved her hollow back into her inner world. Yoruichi was shocked as well.

"Yes. Her execution has been scheduled for tomorrow… at noon."

-

Author's note: I know, I'm so sorry. I was gonna update loads during the New Year's holiday... but after the half-yearly's the teacher went CRAZY on us. I had to hand in one project and 7 other pieces of hmw last Monday. It was crazy! I'm so sorry. I'll try to update soon. But it might help if I had so motivation to do so... like more reviews! Oh! The main story (the um romancing) btween Byakuya and Michiko starts for real next chapter. um... just a question here... has anyone noticed that Michiko seems to have mood swings? one second she's like a kid, the other she's oh so cold... anyone noticed?


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